Cyberdefense winners named
Five teams made it to the final round of the second annual Maine Cyber Defense Competition (MECDC), held on Saturday, March 19, on the campus of the University of Maine in Orono. Each team was recognized for the exceptional quality and value of its community-service projects and poster presentations.
Top honors awarded for the competition went to: first place, John Bapst Memorial High School; second place, Islesboro Central School; and third place, Northern Penobscot Tech Region III.
The key challenge of the daylong event was the Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) CyberNEXS competition in which students had to quickly remove vulnerabilities from their assigned networked computers while simultaneously defending them from a “Red Team,” that tried to hack into their systems.
The event also was attended by Angelo Castigliola III, who orchestrated the creation of MyMainePrivacy.org, winner of the 2010 Department of Homeland Security’s National Cybersecurity Awareness Challenge. Castigliliola presented special prizes to the participants on behalf of UNUM, where he is employed as a systems analyst with special responsibilities in the security architecture area.
Project Director Dr. Raymond Albert, professor of computer science at the University of Maine at Fort Kent, was joined by his colleagues: Mark Goodridge, University of Maine, Augusta; George Markowsky, University of Maine, Orono; and JoAnne Wallingford, University of Maine, Presque Isle. Their collective efforts, along with financial support from the University of Maine System (UMS) Strategic Investment Fund, helped make the exciting event possible.
According to Albert, “This event has again demonstrated that it is possible to raise high school student awareness and interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) programs offered within the UMS and promote civic engagement through significant community service projects, all while engaging the participants in an exciting, competitive event that also helps to address the growing national need for a knowledgeable and skilled cyber security workforce.”
FMI, contact Albert at UMFK at 834-8696, or by visiting the MECDC website at: http://mecdc.maine.edu.
