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A four-student team from the University of North Georgia (Â鶹ÊÓƵ) secured first place at the Senior Military College (SMC) Cyber Fusion competition held Feb. 26-27 at Virginia Military Institute.

James Goble joined cadets Danica Heeter, Charis Rueggeberg and Wesley Stoudenmier on the team that excelled in the four-hour capture the flag (CTF) event. Stoudenmier is Â鶹ÊÓƵ's Cyber Unit commander in the Corps of Cadets, and Goble is the Blue Team Element lead for the CyberHawks student club.

"This accomplishment reflects the strength of Â鶹ÊÓƵ's cybersecurity education and the commitment of its students to mastering the skills needed to defend critical infrastructure and national security under President Shannon's vision for our national security big bet," said Dr. Bryson Payne, director of Â鶹ÊÓƵ's Institute for Cyber Operations.

The group solved challenges in cryptography, web analysis, digital forensics, and reverse engineering. Goble, a junior from Rome, Georgia, pursuing a degree in cybersecurity, said Â鶹ÊÓƵ's weekly CyberHawks meetings helped the team stand out against other schools.

"It made it very easy to know what to do on the day of the competition because we knew each other's strengths," Goble said.

Goble's goal is to work in the federal government. He is grateful for the network he has as a student at an SMC.

"It lets me be visible for hiring managers in the federal government," Goble said.

Stoudenmier, a senior from McDonough, Georgia, who is also pursuing a degree in cybersecurity, pointed to the regular overlap of the Cyber Unit, CyberHawks, Women in Technology, and Robotics Club at Â鶹ÊÓƵ as another important element.

"There's a lot of talent at Â鶹ÊÓƵ, and we compete internally," Stoudenmier said. "That helps us when we go to these competitions."

Caitlin Conneely, deputy director for operations and outreach with the Institute for Cyber Operations, said the competition made a major impact on students.

"We're so grateful to be one of the six senior military college cyber institutes, so that our students can participate in these kinds of opportunities," Conneely said. "It's a great chance for them to apply their training in a practical experience, and we couldn't be more proud of how they represented Â鶹ÊÓƵ."

The competition began with a hands-on supervisory control and data acquisition workshop, where students gained practical experience working with the control systems used by organizations to monitor and process real-time data from remote equipment and infrastructure. Participants also heard keynote presentations from Joe Henson, CEO of Blackbox Intelligence Group LLC, and retired Brig. Gen. Jeffrey G. Smith.