Student Cyber Competition Teams

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At the Center for Cyber Excellence, you can gain the hands-on, competitive experience that’s crucial for helping you develop as a cybersecurity professional. Our student cyber competition teams regularly compete at the regional and national levels, in multiple competition styles, including team-based:

Capture the Flag (CTF)
Penetration Testing
Incident Response (IR)

As part of a student team, you’ll tackle fast-paced, complex challenges to test your skills in defense, offense, and critical infrastructure. Explore our teams below to learn more about what they do and how they’re making their mark on the world of cybersecurity.

Want to learn more? Email cyber@liberty.edu.

Student Cyber Competition Teams are available for residential students and online students who reside in the Greater Lynchburg area.

CCDC – Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition

The CCDC team specializes in cyber defense and is tasked in real-time with operating and securing a small business network from an experienced professional red team. This competition is a test of incident response, network administration, business communications, and teamwork under pressure.

CPTC – Collegiate Penetration Testing Competition

The CPTC team focuses on penetration testing, with team members acting as professional pen testers hired to assess the security of a fictional corporate environment. They must identify vulnerabilities, exploit systems, and present their findings in a formal presentation to C-level management – as well as a professional report to the “client,” balancing technical expertise with business acumen and effective communication skills.

CyberForce Competition

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, the CyberForce Competition challenges teams to defend critical energy infrastructure, such as power grids and water treatment plants. Undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate students compete against each other in this unique competition that blends cyber-physical security with real-world scenarios, preparing students to protect our nation’s most vital systems.

NCAE Cyber Games

As a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cybersecurity (NCAE-C) designated institution, Liberty participates in the NCAE Cyber Games. This competition features a series of challenges that cover a broad range of cybersecurity domains, from cryptography and forensics to policy and network security, all based on real-world scenarios – and including a Capture the Flag component. This competition is uniquely designed for college students who are new to collegiate cyber competitions.

Cyber Fusion

Cyber Fusion is an annual, invitation-only state-wide competition for Virginia universities designated as National Centers of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense. Co-sponsored by the Commonwealth Cyber Initiative (CCI), this event includes a variety of challenges, highlighted by the Capture the Flag (CTF) style Virginia Cyber Cup.