St. Cloud State’s team finished in first place at the 2016 Minnesota Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition. Submitted photo
St. Cloud State University’s Information Technology Security program re-claimed the top crown, finishing first place March 5 in the 2016 Minnesota Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition (CCDC).
St. Cloud State previously won the state competition in 2011 and 2012.
Six two-year colleges and three universities, including a guest college from Wisconsin, competed in a day-long battle pitching student teams against nonstop cyber-attacks by a team of security professionals across Minnesota. Teams simultaneously met business needs in the imitation of IT environments in the workforce.
Team members
- Scott Rysdahl, Tofte
- Michael Virnig, Big Lake
- Jordan Jenkins, Dayton
- Jordan Potti, Two Harbors
- Robert Finstad, St. Cloud
- Blake Tyra, Hanover
- Abe Wilson, Monticello
- Nick Englund, Boise, Idaho
- Shravya Rachakonda, Hyderabad, India
- Will Smith, St. Cloud
“St. Cloud State’s Information Technology Security program prepares students for this competition,” said Tirthankar Ghosh, team adviser and coach, and director of the Information Technology Security program. “After four years, we are back on top by winning the state again.”
The team also is coached by campus technician Ben Pratt who specializes in data security.
Fellow Minnesota State Colleges & Universities schools rounded out the top three. Metropolitan State University finished second, with Minnesota State University, Mankato coming in third. Lake Superior College has held the title for the past two years.
The top three Minnesota teams will be recognized at the Secure360 conference May 18 in St. Paul.
St. Cloud State will compete in the 2016 Midwest Regional CCDC at Moraine Valley Community College, in Moraine Valley, Illinois, April 1-2. The Midwest Regional CCDC winner will compete at the 2016 National CCDC in San Antonio, Texas, April 22-24.
St. Cloud State’s Information Technology Security program teaches students to assess the security needs of a computer and network system, recommend safeguards and manage the implementation and maintenance of security devices, systems and procedures to protect it. Student collaboration is encouraged with faculty researching artificial intelligence, software engineering networking, parallel computing, operating systems, distributed computing, graphics, databases, numerical computing, computer architecture and security.
