Cyber Defense Competitions Club (CDCC) is a club which brings together students of diverse background to gain valuable industry experience and earn scholarships in competitions.
Club President Landon Beach directs the club members in the diverse hands-on activities performed each meeting, ranging from teaching about specific software tools and setting up a network on which to perform attacks against each other, the club is always doing something new.
A big part of each semester’s club activities involve preparing for a competition known as the National Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition. At the competition, different schools compete against each other in simulations where one school acts as the defender and one as the attacker.
Speaking of his experience at the fall 2017 NCCDC, Ethan Smith, a sophomore computer science major from Lehi, said, “NCDDC was a really great experience. We got to go up to Idaho, and learn lots of cool stuff about how it feels to work in the industry, with a boss who asks things from you, as well as making sure that everything that you’re running is working, and co-workers sending you memes while you’re trying to work–yeah, that happened. I also learned a lot about breaking into vulnerable systems. I’m really excited for our next competition in March. it is going to be bigger and better, and hopefully we can win first place.”
At the fall 2017 NCCDC, SUU’s team took fourth place out of sixteen, notably beating the BYU team. In preparation for the competition, each team member studied for their respective position, and ran simulations with the rest of the club, hacking and being hacked.
The club is held on Thursdays starting at 6:30 p.m., and, according to their club page, “all levels of experience and expertise are welcome to participate and contribute.”
Story by
Matthew House for SUU News
Photo for SUU News by
Markus Spiske on Unsplash
