Members of the FCC Cyber Team won the top four spots in a recent competition of nearly 200 college students.

The impressive showing took place this fall at the 2018 Cyber Fast Track Maryland Competition, held at Montgomery College.

In addition to placing first through fourth in the competition, two other FCC students placed in the top 10 of all students.

Congratulations to these students:

• Adam Boretos (1st place)
• Jakob Denlinger (2nd place)
• Patrick Stalnaker (3rd place)
• Jonathan Woodward (4th place)
• Christian Lowe (6th place)
• Derek Sappington (7th place)

 
We also congratulate Juliet Madden, who just joined the team and participated in the competition.
 
Tony Punturiero, a 2015 graduate of our information technology program and current adjunct faculty member, started the Cyber Team two years ago with five students. Now, there are 86 FCC student members, as well as students from Hood College and Mount St. Mary’s University.
 
The team meets three times a week and provides students the opportunity to gain critical hands-on experience with concepts they are learning in their cybersecurity classes. The group creates challenges that include real-life scenarios, such as identifying the right program to decipher an encrypted message.
 
Working together to solve these challenges prepares the team for state and regional competitions that follow a similar format. In addition to competing against other college students, cyber competitions often include time to meet and network with industry professionals to hear about job opportunities at organizations such as Cisco, IBM, Geico, and Northrop Grumman.

Christian Lowe, who plans to earn his cybersecurity degree at the end of this semester, said the team prepares students for a career in cybersecurity. 

"It's a fantastic opportunity to learn and challenge yourself in cybersecurity while getting to apply what you learn in class," he says.