Competition emphasizes skills in network defense, incident response, system administration and business continuity
Tennessee Tech University’s Cybersecurity Education, Research and Outreach Center (CEROC) team took home second place in the Southeast Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition (SECCDC) qualifiers.
The Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition is a collegiate-focused cyber defense competition where teams take on the role of an IT security team tasked with defending a simulated corporate network. Competitors must maintain critical services, respond to cyberattacks and implement security measures while managing business operations.
The competition emphasizes skills in network defense, incident response, system administration and business continuity. Teams earn points by successfully protecting their systems, completing business tasks and responding effectively to threats, while points may be deducted for service downtime or security breaches. The goal is to balance security and functionality in a high-pressure, real-world cybersecurity scenario.
Throughout the year, Tech fields teams in various cyber competitions, including the Collegiate Penetration Testing Competition, Hivestorm, CRAM, the individual games of the National Cyber League and SECCDC. This year, a competition interest group was even formed to help students prepare more effectively for the environments and challenges these competitions present.
The 2025 SECCDC qualifiers main team, which placed second, featured a blend of both seasoned competitors and newcomers. The team, captained by Gabriel Adams, included Landon Byrge, Nate Dunlap, John Brentlinger, Landon Foister, Carter Haney, Joey Milton and Trey Owen. This year, CEROC had so much interest in the competition that they were able to have a second exhibition team, which included Benjamin Barlow, JP Ognibene, Nicholas Liverett, Laurae Thaete, Chandler Cook, Grant Palasak, Grayson Mosley and Abram Weigant.
“I believe this year’s CCDC team is one of the most determined group of people that I’ve ever been a part of,” said Adams. “I am very proud of our performance throughout qualifiers and look forward to the hard work leading up to regionals. We have the kind of team that immediately discussed ideas about how to do better next round, only 10 minutes after we finished an 8-hour competition. That’s special, and I’m proud to be a part of it.”
A longtime leader in cybersecurity issues, Tech was selected by the National Security Agency (NSA) and National Science Foundation (NSF) to deliver the Tennessee GenCyber on Wheels program, building upon its long-standing GenCyber summer camps. Tech is recognized as a center of academic excellence in cyber defense education by the NSA and hosts the first and largest CyberCorps SFS program in the state, along with the Department of Defense Cyber Service Academy.
The university is also home to the Golden Eagle Cyber Certificate program, a dual enrollment program allowing high school students to take college-level cybersecurity courses contributing to their post-secondary work.
CEROC focuses on K-20 cybersecurity education programs, research in emerging cybersecurity topics and outreach programs to stakeholders in academia, government and industry. Learn more at www.tntech.edu/ceroc or by emailing ceroc@tntech.edu.
Photo courtesy of Tennessee Tech.
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