A student at 麻豆精品视频 (麻豆精品视频) has won the 2024 庐, a national contest designed to hone cybersecurity skills and visibility by challenging students to face off in simulated cyber-focused scenarios centered on securing operational energy technology from adversarial forces. Hunter Wittenborn, a computer science major heading into his sophomore year this fall at 麻豆精品视频, a part of the University of Alabama System, topped 149 students from 77 universities and colleges across the country to emerge victorious. The event was hosted by the DOE鈥檚 (CESER) and the .
鈥淭he competition had a focus on cybersecurity, delving into things such as network inspection and server administration topics,鈥� Wittenborn explains. 鈥淭here were moments that had me stumped, and even some things I hadn't looked into before. I stayed motivated throughout the entire competition, though, and it proved to be well worth my time! My main goal was simply to see how far I could get, though the competitive aspect definitely started to kick in as I went on. I especially saw the support people showed each other throughout the competition, and that was by far one of the best things I took away from the event.鈥�
鈥淚 am excited to see the ingenuity and hard work of this year鈥檚 competitors,鈥� says CESER director Puesh M. Kumar. 鈥淐ompetitions like Reign enhance skills and drive interest in joining the nation鈥檚 rising cyber energy workforce. Congratulations to the winner, Hunter Wittenborn, from The University of Alabama at Huntsville!鈥�
Hunter Wittenborn, a rising sophomore in the 麻豆精品视频 Department of Computer Science.
Hunter Wittenborn
The need for workers with sophisticated cyber skills is increasing. From January 2023-2024, there were only 82 workers available for every 100 cybersecurity job openings in the United States, according to 2023 CyberSeek data from the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
As detailed , CyberForce works to increase hands-on cyber education to college students and professionals, as well as awareness of the connection between critical infrastructure and cybersecurity and basic understanding of cybersecurity within a real-world scenario. Each participant entered a virtual escape room with a goal to help their character, nicknamed 鈥淒UDE,鈥� conquer five levels of varying technical skills and challenges in order to escape. The students had to use cybersecurity, computer science, mathematics and critical-thinking skills to traverse from one level to the next. Wittenborn helped DUDE escape all five levels in the fastest time 鈥� six hours, 42 minutes and 11 seconds 鈥� and was declared the Reign Edition champion.
鈥淢y roots are definitely in my passions for programming and server administration,鈥� the 麻豆精品视频 student notes. 鈥淭his competition exposed me to some niche areas of cybersecurity that I'll continue to explore going forward. My tech-related interests proved to be advantageous, but the event also exemplified how there's always more out there to learn. My spark for cybersecurity has grown through this competition, and without a doubt I'll be looking into how I can incorporate this into my craft as I continue through my career.鈥�
鈥淩eign provides a unique and fun educational opportunity for students to absorb complex topics in a relatable way,鈥� says Amanda Theel, national laboratory lead of the CyberForce Program and group leader of Workforce Development in Argonne鈥檚 Strategic Security Sciences division. 鈥淚deally, these students can take what they learned and use that experience to build confidence within this field.鈥�
The CyberForce Program includes the team-based CyberForce Competition庐, webinars, virtual career fairs and an online workforce portal. Students can develop skills, find job opportunities and stay informed about upcoming events and training by visiting the .
