Security and Privacy (SnP) lab has been dedicated to promoting cybersecurity education and training among undergraduate and graduate students. We have been actively involved undergraduate and graduate students in various cybersecurity competitions, including National Cyber League (NCL) cyber competition, various CTFs in Grrcon, DEF CON, etc.
Dr. Chen is the faculty coach of MTU NCL team, and the co-adivisor of MTU RedTeam. Please contact me (bchen@mtu.edu) if you are interested in joining these teams.
Outcomes:
Fall 2024: We had 45 students participating in the NCL cyber competition. Out of 8483 Individual Players we had 1 player ranked in the top 100: Noah Holland (
5th) - one of our best records in the individual game since we participated in NCL cyber competition in Fall 2017). In the team game our primary competitive team (RedTeam@MTU), made up of Josh Stiebel, Noah Holland, Noah Strekow, Ethan Norush, Dane C., Ethan Onsager, and Ice Wolfy, was ranked 44th, out of 4893 teams across the US. Another team, made up of Justin Christenson, Joshua Stevens, Lucas Jones, Trent Verboncouer, Carter Ravenstone, and Tyler Ormstad, was ranked 66th.
Fall 2023: The MTU RedTeam had a very
successful experience at the first annual SecretCON, the Minnesota Hacker, Cybersecurity, & Privacy Conference, which took place November 2-3, 2023, in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Fall 2023: We had 44 students participating in the NCL cyber competition. Out of 7930 Individual Players we had 2 players ranked in the top 100: Ryan Klemm (
5th - our best record in the individual game since we participated in NCL cyber competition in Fall 2017), Noah Holland (40th). In the team game our primary competitive team (RedTeam@MTU), made up of Ryan Klemm, Josh Stiebel, Thad Sander, Audrey LaCost, Gary Tropp, Noah Holland, Andrew Martin, was ranked 11th, out of 454 teams (experienced students bracket) across the US. Our participation of NCL in Fall 2023 was supported by
ICC Center for Cybersecurity.
Spring 2023: Our team has great
achievements at CypherCon, Wisconsin’s largest technology and hacker conference, March 30-31, 2023, held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Spring 2023: Three groups from the MTU RedTeam competed in CyberSEED 2023 (
leaderboard). Placing 3rd among hundreds of competitors, RedTeam Team 1 earned 2390 points with 93.41% accuracy. Team members were Ryan Klemm (Computer Science BS), Audrey LaCost (Chem Informatics BS), Joshua Stiebel (Computer Engineering BS), and Noah Holland (Cybersecurity BS). The team was awarded a $2,000 prize.
Fall 2022: Another fruitful season of our NCL cyber competition. In this season, we had 32 people participating in the competition. Out of 6675 Individual Players we had 2 players ranked in the top 100: Ryan Klemm (48th), Josh Stiebel (77th). In the team game our primary competitive team (RedTeam@MTU), made up of Jacson Ott, Ryan Klemm, Devon Midkiff, Josh Stiebel, Thad Sander, Audrey LaCost, Noah Holland, was ranked 6th, out of 3926 teams across the US.
Fall 2022: Our team attended
Grrcon, an information security and hacking conference, and placed the first in the
OSINT CTF and the Lockpicking Village Challenges. Congratulations, Josh Stiebel, Ryan Klemm, Sophia Kraus, and other members in the team.
Summer 2022: At the annual DEF CON 30 hacking conference (August 11-14, 2022, in Las Vegas, Nevada), two RedTeam students Sophia Kraus and Josh Stiebel–along with three others not affiliated with Michigan Tech, competed in the Fathom5 SeaTF capture the flag (CTF) competition. Their team, “Revolutionera,” placed
5th out of 22 teams.
Spring 2022: Our NCL team was ranked
6th out of 576 teams, in the spring 2022 National Cyber League team capture the flag (CTF) competition, April 22-24, 2022.
Spring 2022: RedTedTem members Sophia Kraus (Electrical Engineering) and Josh Stiebel (Computer Engineering) participated in CyberBoat Challenge,
won CTF competition.
Spring 2022: Three MTU RedTeam members (Trevor Hornsby, Josh Stiebel, Ryan Klemm, Shane Hoppe) placed
5th out of 119 teams in the CyberSEED capture-the-flag competition on March 26, 2022.
Fall 2021: This semester we had 29 people participating in NCL cyber competition. Out of 6475 Individual Players we had 3 players ranked in the top 100: Josh Stiebel (
15th, a new record of our ranking in the NCL individual game since Fall 2017), Ryan Klemm (18th), Stu Kernstock (65th). In the team game our primary competitive team (RedTeam@MTU), made up of Stu Kernstock, Matthew Chau, Sankalp Shastry, Ryan Klemm, Josh Stiebel, Thad Sander and Tayler, was ranked 10th, out of 3916 teams from hundreds of universities across the US.
Fall 2021:
The MTU RedTeam captured 1st place in an Open Source INTelligence Capture The Flag contest (OSINT CTF), hosted at the GrrCON Cyber Security Summit and Hacker Conference, September 16-17, 2021, in Grand Rapids, MI.
Spring 2021: This semester we had 23 people participating in NCL cyber competition. Out of 4180 Individual Players we had 4 players in the top 100: Trevor Hornsby (50th), Dakoda Patterson (59th), Stu Kernstock (75th), and Matthew Chau (100th). In the team game our primary competitive team (RedTeam@MTU), made up of Trevor Hornsby, Dakoda Patterson, Stu Kernstock, Matthew Chau, Ryan Klemm, Shane Hoppe, and Joshua Stiebel was able to complete
100% of the challenges putting us in a tie for first place and earning us a
3rd place overall ranking in the team game, out of 922 teams from hundreds of universities in US (
a breakthrough!!! Congratulations, RedTeam@MTU! Way to go!). Check out some of the media coverages in
Yahoo,
WFMZ-TV, etc. The Cyber Power Ranking of MTU is
3 in Spring 2021.
A snapshot of the team after they finished their 3-day competition online:
Spring 2021: RedTeam successfully hosted the 2021 MTU Winter Wonderhack - Capture The Flag.
Spring 2021:
Dakoda Patterson and Trevor Hornsby are part of a five-member team that finished 3rd in the invitation-only Lockheed Martin Advanced Technologies Laboratories (ATL) Capture the Flag cybersecurity competition.
Fall 2020: We have 27 students who successfully complete the NCL cyber competition, among which 7 students rank top 100 out of 6011 participants in the individual games:
Jacson Ott (52/6011),Trevor Hornsby (78/6011), Shane Hoppe (80/6011), Dakoda Patterson (90/6011), Matthew Chau (92/6011), Ryan Klemm (93/6011), Stu Kernstock (98/6011). For team games, we have 5 teams involved and 2 teams rank top 100 out of 957 teams.
RedTeam@MTU (22/957): Trevor Hornsby, Stu Kernstock, Jacson Ott, Shane Hoppe, Dakoda Patterson, Ryan Klemm.
RedTeam@MTU Alumni (67/957): Jack Bergman, Jon Preuth, Trevor Taubitz. The final Cyber Power Ranking of MTU in Fall 2020 was ranked
15 by Cyber Skyline based on the NCL performance!
Spring 2020: We had 3 teams participating in the NCL cyber competition in this season. All the 3 teams were ranked top 100 out of 925 teams. Team 1 (Alexander Larkin, Jack Bergman, Jon Preuth, Trevor Hornsby, Shane Hoppe, Dakoda Patterson, Matthew Chau) was ranked 16; Team 2 (Sophia Kraus, Sam Breuer, Ian Hughes, Austin Doorlag, Sankalp Shastry, Hunter Indermuehle, Samantha Christie) was ranked 45; and Team 3 (John Claassen, Stu Kernstock, Jacson Ott, Bradley Gipson, Ethan Frenza, Tim Lucero, Anders Jacobsen) was ranked 78. Also, Shane Hoppe was ranked 95 out of 5357 participants in the individual game. The final Cyber Power Ranking of MTU in Spring 2020 was ranked
22 by Cyber Skyline based on the NCL performance!
Spring 2020:
RedTeam hosted the 2020 MTU Winter Wonderhack - Capture The Flag, and there were 15 teams (totally 35 students) from MTU joining the competition.
Spring 2020: A pilot course for cybersecurity competitions, CS 4090 - Cybersecurity Competitions, was opened for those students who are interested in learning cybersecurity competition skills and getting involved in various CTF competitions.
Fall 2019:
Our team (id: RedTeam@MTU) placed 8th out of 689 teams in NCL Fall 2019 cyber competition team game! A breakthrough since our first joining of NCL competition in Fall 2017. Big congratulations, Alexander Larkin, John Claassen, Jack Bergman, Jon Preuth, Trevor Hornsby, Shane Hoppe, Matthew Chau! Great job! We also had two members who were ranked top 100 out of 4149 players in the individual game: John Claassen (67 out of 4149), Alex Larkin (70 out of 4149). Congratulations, John and Alex! The final Cyber Power Ranking of MTU in Fall 2019 was ranked
11 by Cyber Skyline based on the NCL performance.
Spring 2019: Our NCL team (Jack Bergman, Trevor Hornsby, Stu Kernstock, Alex Larkin, Jon Preuth) placed 97 out of 510 teams in Spring 2019 competition season!
Fall 2018:
Alex Larkin placed 17th out of 3,324 students/players in NCL Fall 2018 Regular Season! Our NCL team (Alex Larkin, Jon Preuth, Jack Bergman) placed 81 out of 360 teams in Fall 2018 Postseason!
Spring 2018:
Alex Larkin placed 36th out of 3,350 students/players in NCL Spring 2018 Regular Season!
Fall 2017:
Alex Larkin placed 101 out of 3,449 students/players in NCL Fall 2017 Regular Season!