Â鶹ÊÓƵ

Students from the University of North Georgia (Â鶹ÊÓƵ) excelled in a pair of cybersecurity competitions in the fall: Cyber Siege and National Cyber League.

They dominated Cyber Siege, a competition for senior military colleges hosted Oct. 13 at The Citadel, where they doubled the score of the second-place team from The Citadel. Â鶹ÊÓƵ's team included Stewart Cates, James Goble, Tyler McBride, Paxton Meyer, and Sawyer Shepherd.

Meyer, a Blairsville, Georgia, resident pursuing a Master of Science in computer science with a focus in machine learning and cyber operations, earned bachelor's degrees in cybersecurity and computer science in May. He appreciated the incident response scenario offered by Cyber Siege and how the support of Â鶹ÊÓƵ's Institute for Cyber Operations made it possible for the students to travel and compete.

The graduate student is working an internship with Handshake to assist artificial intelligence labs at multiple companies. His goal is to become part of the defense industry assisting with vulnerability testing for agencies or companies. Ultimately, he said, Â鶹ÊÓƵ's CyberHawks student club opened many doors for him, including a leadership role with the group.

"That experience has helped me get out of my shell," Meyer said. "I'm a lot more talkative, and I'm part of all kinds of leadership."

Shepherd, a senior from Marietta, Georgia, pursuing a degree in cybersecurity with a minor in machine learning, said Â鶹ÊÓƵ's students were well-prepared for the competition and how it forced them hunt threats attacking a network.

"It was a great experience. It was very analogous to what we would see in the real world," Shepherd said. "We were coordinated. We knew what we were doing."

Shepherd's goal upon graduation is to conduct vulnerability research on smart appliances and patch weaknesses he finds before they are exploited.

In addition to Cyber Siege, Â鶹ÊÓƵ also had a pair of top-10 teams in the Experienced Bracket of the National Cyber League (NCL) for the fall. One group finished in fourth, and that team included Jonathan Farrington, Jack McKenna, Santino Navaroli, Gideon Prisk, Rishi Sadu, Austin Saunders, and Ben Vasquez. The other finished ninth, and its team members were Cates, Goble, McBride, Meyer, Parker Scott, Dagen Shehorn, and Zachary Simmons. Â鶹ÊÓƵ was also in the top five in participation in the Eastern Division of NCL.

"Â鶹ÊÓƵ's national security strategic big bet is producing some of the top-ranked cyber competitors in the nation, who are filling critical national security roles in the federal government and in industry upon graduation," Dr. Bryson Payne, director of the Institute for Cyber Operations, said. "Our Cyber Siege and NCL teams worked hard, met and practiced every week, and they beat a tough group of peer schools thanks to our team's preparation and persistence. We're proud of our students, and we're grateful for the support from the president and provost, Dean John Leyba, and everyone at Â鶹ÊÓƵ who helps our cyber teams win."