SAN ANTONIO – A group of local college students tested their cybersecurity skills and competed against students from across the nation.
“I was learning all these skills at Northeast Lakeview College, so I wanted to see how it would transition into a real-world scenario which was a lot of fun,” John Viner, a member of the team said.
The students are part of the cyber defense program at Northeast Lakeview College and competed in the National Cyber League competition.
“We are very hands on oriented, very project oriented. We have about 150 or so hands on projects built in the curriculum,” Chip Thornsburg, the program coordinator for Cyber Defense said.
The team excelled at the competition and placed 74th out of 450 colleges and universities.
“We worked together to find these flags and solve these puzzles,” andace Garza, another member of the team said.
The students worked together for about 56 hours to solve complex cybersecurity challenges.
For Viner, his ultimate goal is to get into the cyber security workforce and use the skills he learned here.
“My critical thinking and how to work in a team setting with everyone. In cyber security, it’s not just one person, it’s the entire team all together that has got to work together,” Viner said.
The team will compete again in the fall.