UMGC Cyber Teams Dominate Fall MAGIC Competition

Adelphi, Md. (Dec. 2, 2024)-Cyber competition teams from University of Maryland Global Campus (UMGC) claimed first, second, and fourth place in the 17th Mid-Atlantic Gigabit Innovation Collaboratory (MAGIC) Competition, nearly sweeping the capture-the-flag (CTF) event that included more than 100 students across the United States.

"The MAGIC CTF is a popular event in the DMV area and our teams have performed well dating back to 2017 when we started competing in them," said Jesse Varsalone, associate professor of cybersecurity technology at UMGC and the coach of the cyber competition teams. "I attribute our success to the continued strength of our cybersecurity program and the ability of our students to apply their skills to the real-world challenges that these types of competitions provide."

The three-hour CTF competition held on Oct. 19 included categories such as reverse engineering, Linux, password cracking and various other coding challenges.

The three UMGC teams, each with four competitors, were among 22 teams that competed in the event. All three teams comprised UMGC undergraduate students.

The first-place team, UMGC-Team1, included Brandon Wright, Andrew Stefanic, and Gregory Kolb, cybersecurity technology majors, and Rikka Starborne, an East Asian Studies major.

The second-place team, UMGC-Team3, was made up of four cybersecurity technology majors: Christian Barry, Tyler Melcavage, Gabriel Katlic and Dominique Matthews.

The fourth-place team, UMGC-Team2, included Michael Mills, Jeff Yates, Doreen Pairer and Phuong Nguyen. Paier and Nguyen are cybersecurity technology majors, Yates is a computer science major and Mills is a dual cybersecurity technology and cyber operations major.

Established in 2012, the UMGC cybersecurity team comprises students, alumni and faculty who compete regularly in digital forensics, penetration testing and computer network defense scenarios that help them gain experience to advance their cybersecurity careers. To prepare for competitions, students detect and combat cyberattacks in the university's Virtual Security Lab and work through case studies in an online classroom.

The UMGC team has earned numerous honors throughout its history, including championships in local, national and international competitions. In addition to several top-three finishes in the Maryland Cyber Challenge, UMGC won the gold medal in the 2014 Global CyberLympics and took first place in 2015 in the inaugural DiploHack competition sponsored by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. UMGC also won a Silver Award in the 2016 National Cyber Analyst Challenge and finished third in the 2022 Maritime and Control Systems Cybersecurity Con Hack the Port competition.

About University of Maryland Global Campus

University of Maryland Global Campus was founded more than 75 years ago specifically to serve the higher education needs of working adults and military servicemembers. Today, UMGC is the largest provider of postsecondary education in Maryland and continues its global tradition with online and hybrid courses, more than 175 classroom and service locations worldwide, and more than 135 degrees and certificates backed by the reputation of a state university and the University System of Maryland. For more information, visit umgc.edu.

About MAGIC

MAGIC (the Mid-Atlantic Gigabit Innovation Collaboratory) is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization headquartered in Westminster, Maryland. MAGIC's mission is to build a tech ecosystem that creates and nurtures talent, entrepreneurship and tech businesses, elevating the Westminster gigabit community to lead the Mid-Atlantic region. The City of Westminster provides key financial support to MAGIC.

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