TTU Cybersecurity Team Places 3rd In International Event

Tennessee Tech’s Cybersecurity Center has brought home 3rd place from an international cybersecurity competition.

16 teams competed in an offensive competition to hack a fictional company’s network. Graduate student and Team Captain Kaitlyn Carroll said the three-day event includes realistic websites, social medias and staged character interactions.

“You get to interact with these fictional CEO’s and higher ups in the company the chief security officers, and it really does feel like you’re doing this job and not competing in something. In fact when you’re competing, you can’t even refer to it as a competition.”

This is the first time since 2018 Tech has competed in the Global CPTC International Finals. Carroll said the immersive experience gives students a real view of cybersecurity jobs while also networking with event sponsors for future job opportunities.

“We got to talk to one sponsor from a company, and they were talking about how they actually reserve spots in their internships and employment programs for people who competed in CPTC and made it to Globals. So these companies are working for CPTC participants, and they actually have positions picked out for those who go on to the global competition.”

First place went to Cal Poly Pomona with second place going to Stanford University.