Regians Tackle the Future of Cybersecurity Through CyberPatriot Competition

Above: The team of Regians who competed in CyberPatriot IX Platinum Tier: Seniors Joshua Zeitlinger, Yeon Jun Kim, Luke D'Cruz, Gianluca Rago, Nick Cimaszewski, and Michael Cosgrove. A team of Regians recently concluded an exceptional round of competition in the ninth season of CyberPatriot—the National Youth Cyber Defense Competition.

The Regis CyberPatriot Team placed first in New York State, eighth in the North East Region/Category Platinum Tier (the highest tier to compete in), and 34th nationwide. Over 4,400 teams nationwide registered to compete in CyberPatriot IX.

Established by the Air Force Association, the CyberPatriot National Youth Cyber Education Program was created to excite, educate, and motivate students toward careers in cyber security and other science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines critical to our nation's future.

CyberPatriot's core program—the National Youth Cyber Defense Competition—challenges teams of two to six students across the United States, Canada, and other schools abroad, to find and resolve cybersecurity vulnerabilities in simulated environments. Top teams from the preliminary online rounds earn an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, D.C. for the live National Finals Competition, where students compete for national recognition and scholarships.

The CyberPatriot field is divided into three divisions—the Open Division for public, private, and home school teams, the All Service Division for JROTC, Civil Air Patrol, and Naval Sea Cadet Corps teams, and the Middle School Division. Based on the results of two preliminary rounds, CyberPatriot IX high school teams were categorized within their divisions as Platinum, Gold, or Silver Tier teams, with Platinum Tier teams representing the highest scoring teams.

A second team from Regis also competed, placing first in New York for the State round Gold Tier. After the regional round, they again placed first in the North East region Gold Tier. They finished an impressive seventh out of 161 teams nationwide.

Led by Coach Caroline Christie, a faculty member in the Regis Computer Science Department, both Regis teams demonstrated impressive teamwork, quick critical thinking skills, and robust technical knowledge in cybersecurity.

Reflecting on the experience, the team expressed gratefulness for having had the opportunity to make it so far in the program, and for having learned so much from each stage of the competition. For Michael Cosgrove '17, the competition provided invaluable experience, as it "offered me the opportunity to develop real-world skills in cybersecurity through a strategic, team-based competition."

Above: The team of Regians who competed in CyberPatriot IX Gold Tier: Michael Valverde '19, Jason Kurian '17, John Schlatter '17, Nevyn Duarte '18, Nicholas DeLuca '18, and Richard McClure '18.