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Nearly 500 high schoolers get expert advice at Virginia CyberSlam 2025

Teresa Donnellan — Mon, 17 Mar 2025 16:20:56 +0000

Nearly 500 high schoolers get expert advice at Virginia CyberSlam 2025 Teresa Donnellan Mon, 03/17/2025 - 12:20

Nearly 500 high school students from across the commonwealth gathered at George Mason Ģ��AV for Virginia CyberSlam 2025, where cybersecurity experts from both the public and private sectors shared industry insights during a day of activities aimed at inspiring the next generation of cybersecurity professionals.

Dolores Garza addresses CyberSlam 2025 attendees. Photo by Teresa Donnellan/CEC

“What an event it was March 10, with 475 students representing 22 schools and six school districts from around the commonwealth enjoying hands-on workshops and activities led by cyber experts from industry, government, and higher education,” said CyberSlam founder Chris Starke, a teacher for Loudoun County Public Schools who co-directed the event with the Ģ��AV of Alabama in Huntsville’s Jennifer Marden. “In all, 28 presenters combined to run 12 workshops—6 for each of our novice and advanced students. It was truly rewarding to see students enjoy learning about cybersecurity.”

Students heard from keynote speaker Dolores Garza, Branch Chief of the Technical Operations Group at the United States Marshals Service, among others. Garza oversaw the creation of a cyber investigation unit at the U.S. Marshals and described the evolution of cybersecurity as a professional field. She encouraged attendees to stay open to new technological developments and emphasized the need for a hybrid set of skills that combines criminal investigatory techniques with technical expertise.

“Diversity in technology is not just an asset; it is a necessity,” said Garza. “The more perspectives we bring to problem-solving, the stronger and more effective our solutions become.”

Student navigates drone during CyberSlam 2025. Photo by Ron Aira/Office of Ģ��AV Branding.

Throughout the day, professionals led hands-on workshops in various aspects of cybersecurity.

David Raymond from Virginia Cyber Range led a session on advanced Capture the Flag challenges, focusing on Wireshark.

Greg Crabb from 10-8, LLC, conducted a tabletop exercise on incident response and deep fake technology, and Randy Benn from Claroty introduced students to the Internet of Things.

Other experts leading workshops represented Vertex11, OpusType Advisors, the Idaho National Laboratory, the Drug Enforcement Administration, CYBER.ORG, George Mason, and Shenandoah Ģ��AV, leading workshops on drones, deep fakes, digital forensics, and more.

Students participate in a CyberSlam workshop. Photo by Ron Aira/Office of Ģ��AV Branding

“I would like to thank our co-hosts, George Mason’s Department of Cyber Security Engineering and Loudoun County Public Schools, as well as the Commonwealth Cyber Initiative Northern Virginia Node (CCI NoVA Node), Virginia Cyber Range, Vertex11, CACI International Inc., Claroty, CodeHS, Widelity, Inc., and GT Edge AI for sponsoring this wonderful event that in four years has impacted more than 1,600 students,” said Starke. “And, thank you to our exhibitors the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, Mason Competitive Cyber (MCC), George Mason’s College of Engineering and Computing, GT Edge AI, and the Virginia National Guard 91^st Cyber Brigade.”

CyberSlam attendees navigate drones in a workshop. Photo by Jennifer Marden

One event highlight was a panel featuring George Mason students from the MCC club—Dylan Charnick, Dylan Knoff, and Danyaal Shaozab. MCC is known for its inclusivity, welcoming George Mason students from all majors and levels of experience. The club meets twice weekly, hosting impressive speakers, running workshops on cybersecurity skills, and forming teams to participate successfully in various CTF events throughout the year.

During the panel, the MCC students fielded questions from the audience about degree programs at George Mason, the benefits of technical certifications, and how to best prepare for a career in cybersecurity. “Most cyber jobs are here in the D.C. area,” noted Knoff, pointing out one benefit of pursuing cybersecurity at George Mason.

CyberSlam fosters the cultivation of cybersecurity talent in Northern Virginia, where the industry is booming. This year’s event particularly underscored the opportunities in both public and private sectors that are preparing the next generation of cybersecurity professionals, ensuring they are equipped with the skills and knowledge needed to thrive in this rapidly growing field.

“I would like to thank CCI NoVA Node, specifically Liza Durant and Jordan Mason for sponsoring the amazing raffle prizes and their support for the Virginia CyberSlam, and also George Mason’s Elizabeth Dean for making this event possible,” said Marden. “We could not have done this with the support of George Mason, CCI, our presenters, sponsors, and of course our wonderful Virginia cybersecurity educators and students.”

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Keeping data safe by keeping it separate

Teresa Donnellan — Tue, 25 Feb 2025 15:35:36 +0000

Keeping data safe by keeping it separate Teresa Donnellan Tue, 02/25/2025 - 10:35

Developing a robust cybersecurity system demands a lot of data, but keeping all that data in a single location introduces the risk of a data breach. Luckily, George Mason Ģ��AV researcher Zhuangdi Zhu in the Department of Cyber Security Engineering specializes in federated learning, a method of decentralized machine learning that allows multiple entities to collaboratively train a machine learning model without sharing their raw data.

Zhu is using this expertise to assist Wajih Ul Hassan of the Ģ��AV of Virginia develop scalable host-based intrusion detection systems (HIDS). Together, Zhu and Hassan are leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance a given host’s cybersecurity while ensuring data privacy.

HIDS monitor and analyze the activities within a single host or device. These systems use data, such as system logs, web browsing logs, and process logs, to detect irregularities that may indicate a security threat. For example, Zhu noted, a HIDS might detect malicious software that prompts a browser to download a harmful PDF file. By identifying such irregularities, the HIDS can prevent potential security breaches. Central management of these logs through managed security service providers (MSSPs) on cloud servers, however, could potentially breach user privacy. Enter: federated learning.

Zhuangdi Zhu, photo provided

In a federated learning system, each entity trains a local model on its own data and only shares the model updates with a central server. Local models are trained on individual datasets, and their findings are sent to a central server, Zhu explained. The server then aggregates these parameters to create a global model, which is subsequently sent back to the local models. This iterative process continues until a robust and accurate model is developed. Federated learning thus ensures sensitive data remains within the local models, addressing privacy concerns and complying with data regulations.

The project, funded by the Commonwealth Cyber Initiative, is set to span one year, starting in the summer of 2025. In addition to developing a federated learning framework for HIDS, the team plans to create an open-source dataset for intrusion detection, which will serve as a valuable resource for future research and development in this field.

Zhu's work on decentralized machine learning not only addresses critical privacy concerns but also paves the way for more secure and efficient threat detection systems. Her work on this project represents a significant step forward in the ongoing effort to protect digital environments from evolving cyber threats.

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Cybersecurity students prepare for inaugural DistrictCon Hacker Conference

Shayla Brown — Mon, 27 Jan 2025 17:21:53 +0000

Cybersecurity students prepare for inaugural DistrictCon Hacker Conference Shayla Brown Mon, 01/27/2025 - 12:21

Students from George Mason Ģ��AV’s Competitive Cybersecurity (MCC) club have dominated in multiple national competitions. The team got 1st place in the 2024 VMI CyberFusion and 2nd place in the 2024 Spring National Cyber League.

Next, the students will be competing in the inaugural DistrictCon Hacker Conference on February 21-22.

Club president Dylan Knoff working on routers. Photo provided.

“We'll be presenting live demos with our exploits in front of a judge and audience. So, we'll basically go from not having access to a certain device to showing that we can get access in the eight different attack vectors that we discovered,” said club president Dylan Knoff, a junior computer science major.

This demonstration is known as the junkyard competition, and the device they’re hacking is a router. In preparation for the demo, the team is conducting multiple analyses and rehearsing talking points for verification of their research.

“We basically ripped the firmware off of it, which is the code that runs on embedded devices like this one,” said Knoff, who participated in the International Cybersecurity Championship in Chile with the U.S. Cyber Team.

“We utilized hardware debugging interfaces on the device to both find potential bugs by analyzing our own local copy of the firmware and confirm their existence and exploitability by trying to trigger them on the live device and utilizing the debug interface exposed,” he said.

In addition to Knoff, his teammates Danyaal Shaozab and Ryan Murphy will also participate in the junkyard competition and other cybersecurity challenges including “capture the flag,” also called CTF, where the teams receive challenges, such as web app exploitation, binary exploitation, cryptography, reverse engineering, forensics, and a description that they must solve and then get a flag that is redeemed for points.

In September 2023, MCC hosted its own international CTF event, attracting more than 3,000 participants and 1,600 teams as well as hosted PatriotCTF 2024 attracting over 5400 participants and 2200 teams. The club practices are offensive cybersecurity, which is a type of ethical hacking used to evaluate and determine a system’s security, Murphy explained.

Club member Ryan Murphy working on routers. Photo provided.

Murphy, who transferred to George Mason from Virginia Peninsula Community College as a part of the Mason Virginia Promise, has been passionate about cybersecurity since middle school and participated in CyberPatriot, a national youth cyber education program.

“I'm still pretty new at George Mason, but it's been a really good experience so far,” said Murphy, a junior cyber security engineering major. “I got involved with the club from the get- go because they're a bunch of like-minded people and I’m really grateful for the opportunities the club and the university have offered me.”

The team will have two time slots and two presentations. They plan to do a dry run the day before the conference, as well as more analysis to solidify the information, said Murphy.

Shaozab is currently working as an associate vulnerability researcher at TFP0 Labs, a Reston-based security research firm. Shaozab’s role entails finding and exploiting vulnerabilities of various security systems and he compares his professional responsibilities to that of his club and school assignments.

“Working with Dylan and Ryan is great. We all have similar career goals, and it makes projects and assignments a lot easier,” said Shaozab, who is a senior cyber security engineering major.

Shaozab credits his courses, including CYSE 465 Transportation Systems Design, for helping him prepare for the upcoming competition.

“Dr. [Tanvir] Arafi is a very smart professor and a very talented individual in this field. His course really helped me hone my cyber techniques,” he said.

Shaozab explained that the team is focused on exploiting the [Control Area Network] bus, which is like the nervous system of a vehicle, allowing different components like the engine, brakes, and doors to communicate with each other. “Exploiting it involves sending malicious messages in the CAN bus to manipulate the car's function, such as unlocking doors or starting the engine,” he said.

“What made this particularly interesting to me is that I'm a huge car enthusiast, so being able to merge my passion for cars and cybersecurity was a unique experience. Getting hands-on with that in a classroom setting made it even more engaging. It’s rare to get that kind of knowledge taught in schools,” he said.

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Student team wins first place, $60k from cyber warfare challenge

Teresa Donnellan — Fri, 01 Nov 2024 15:44:34 +0000

Student team wins first place, $60k from cyber warfare challenge Teresa Donnellan Fri, 11/01/2024 - 11:44

A student team from a research group in George Mason Ģ��AV's Center for Secure Information Systems, led by Professor Kun Sun, won first place in the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division (NSWCDD) Cyber Resiliency and Measurement Challenge. The students were selected to compete in person from October 22–23 at the Ģ��AV of Mary Washington’s Dahlgren Campus.

The team consisted of two undergraduates, Sam Best and Noah Korzak, majoring in computer science and cyber security engineering, respectively, and doctoral student Tommy Chin.

Samuel Best, Noah Korzak, and Tommy Chin at the NSWCDD Cyber Resilience and Measurement Challenge

“I thought the competition was a great opportunity to learn from,” said Best, adding, “Although the prize is a great plus, the skills I learned are far more valuable to my career.”

Sun reflected on the experience: "Over the past two months, it has been a valuable opportunity for our students to apply their knowledge from the classroom to tackle real-world cyber warfare challenges.”

“Eleven teams from colleges and universities across the nation competed in the challenge, aiming to address real-world cybersecurity problems faced by the Navy while gaining valuable knowledge and skills essential for tackling complex cyber threats in the future,” wrote Morgan Tabor of NSWCDD Corporate Communications.

“One of NSWCDD’s priorities is to develop innovative solutions that strengthen our nation’s cyber defenses and enhance system resiliency against cyber threats. By participating in this challenge, teams are helping us explore new ways to measure and improve tools that assess and improve cyber defensive capabilities,” said another NSWCDD representative.

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Cybersecurity faculty teams pitch startup ideas at Commonwealth Cyber Initiative competition

Teresa Donnellan — Fri, 11 Oct 2024 17:11:08 +0000

Cybersecurity faculty teams pitch startup ideas at Commonwealth Cyber Initiative competition Teresa Donnellan Fri, 10/11/2024 - 13:11

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On October 9, 2024, the Commonwealth Cyber Initiative’s Northern Virginia Node accelerator program (CCI+A) culminated in a final pitch competition in front of a panel of cybersecurity industry experts and entrepreneurs at Mason Square. Program participants, cybersecurity engineering academics from throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia, spent the past few months bringing their ideas for businesses to life.

The program helped participants connect with mentors, identify funding and how to obtain it, investigate their target customer, further develop their minimum viable product and hone their elevator pitch. CCI Northern Virginia Node Director Liza Wilson Durant, who welcomed event attendees, encouraged participants to change their perspective from faculty member explaining the technical basis for their idea, to end user who is trying to understand the problem it will solve.

CCI+A 2024 participants and advisors. Photo by Teresa Donnellan.

Each of the eight 2024 faculty teams presented a pitch and received insights on the industry and investment landscapes from the esteemed judging panel. The panel included Jennifer Addie, chief operating officer of Mach37 Cyber Accelerator and VentureScope; Maria Swainson, a managing vice president at Gartner and a member of Citrine Angels, an investment group; Maurice Boissiere, chief customer officer at DataTribe; and, Alicia Lynch, chief information security officer at TD Synnex. Jamil Jaffer, founder and executive director of the National Security Institute at the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason and venture partner with Paladin Capital Group moderated the panel.

Faculty team products included everything from hardware to protect a person’s identity to encryption software. CyberGuard AI, led by Old Dominion Ģ��AV’s Peter Foytick; PrivacyGuard, led by Old Dominion’s Rui Ning; CyberSeQurity, led by George Mason Ģ��AV's Weiwen Jiang; EngineeRD Solutions, led by George Mason’s Brian Ngac; MedChai, led by William & Mary’s Ran Yang; Continuous and Lightweight Authentication for Wearable and Portable Systems (CLAWS), led by George Mason’s Sai Manoj Pudukotai Dinakarrao; RADAR - Real-time Anomaly Detection with Edge AI Hardware, led by Virginia Commonwealth Ģ��AV’s Jayasimha Atulasimhal; and, Machine Learning Operations Executed in an Encrypted Environment (MOXIE), led by Old Dominion scientists all presented pitches.

Robert Podswadt pitches MOXIE to a panel of cybersecurity industry expert. Photo by Teresa Donnellan.

Robert Podswadt, the development lead for MOXIE, made the winning pitch. His teammates include John Matter and Daniel Takabi. The panel praised Podswadt’s clarity, particularly his use of simple graphics to explain MOXIE, a proposed homomorphic computing encryption service.

“We’re leveraging our vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem, and we’re leveraging our deep pool of cybersecurity talent here in Northern Virginia,” said Vice President for Research, Innovation, and Economic Impact at George Mason Ģ��AV Andre Marshall, who spoke at the event. He added that CCI was “a visionary initiative by the state of Virginia” whereby more than 40 academic units are working together to foster cybersecurity research and workforce development in Virginia.

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George Mason Ģ��AV announces first commercial tenant at Fuse at Mason Square

Colleen Rich — Wed, 02 Oct 2024 19:40:57 +0000

George Mason Ģ��AV announces first commercial tenant at Fuse at Mason Square Colleen Rich Wed, 10/02/2024 - 15:40

George Mason Ģ��AV and Mason Innovation Partners (MIP), a development consortium led by Edgemoor Infrastructure & Real Estate, announce the first commercial tenant for Fuse at Mason Square in Arlington, Virginia. The new tenant, Cybastion, is an American technology company that delivers world-class cybersecurity and digital enhancement solutions to accelerate digital transformation in emerging markets, especially Africa.

Cybastion CEO Thierry Wandji. Photo provided

“The Fuse commercial opening and partnership with Cybastion marks a major milestone for the university’s growth and commitment to research and economic development for the region,” said Ken Walsh, George Mason’s executive vice president for strategic initiatives. “The Mason Square campus is part of our vision to redefine the role of a modern university as a vital partner in strengthening local business and community infrastructures, as well as continue to propel Virginia forward as the number one state for business and education.”

The 345,000+ square foot building is designed with collaborative spaces and emerging-tech labs and offices for business, research scholarship, and community engagement within the Arlington innovation corridor. Cybastion will move in to Fuse in the spring of 2025.

“Fuse will provide unique opportunities and bespoke amenities that will enhance innovation and collaboration for co-located industry partners, faculty, and the talent pipeline,” said Brian Naumick, managing director with Edgemoor Infrastructure & Real Estate. “We look forward to the great work Cybastion and many more partners will do at Fuse, driving impact for the greater D.C. market and the world.”

From left, George Mason professor Duminda Wijesekera, U.S. Ambassador to the Ivory Coast Jessica Davis Ba, U.S. Small Business Administrator Isabel Casillas Guzman, and Cybastion CEO Thierry Wandji at the U.S. Embassy in Abidjan. Photo provided

Cybastion and George Mason have been collaborating on cybersecurity and 5G/6G research in the U.S. and African nations since 2022. Cybastion CEO Thierry Wandji has been working with the Cyber Living Innovation Lab at Mason Square, and George Mason Professor Duminda Wijesekera. Originally funded by the Commonwealth Cyber Initiative’s Northern Virginia Node and now sustained with funding from federal agencies and the private sector, the Cyber Living Innovation Lab has significant expertise and capability in cybersecurity, NextG communications, transportation, manufacturing, and other infrastructure systems.

“Given its location and research talent, including Wijesekera’s team, Cybastion is pleased to take up residency in Fuse,” said Wandji. “The partnership with George Mason Ģ��AV offers us an opportunity to seamlessly blend our strengths for fostering digital innovation while tapping into the university’s wealth of research and development to scale.”

Wandji serves as the director of cybersecurity education at the cybersecurity Centers of Academic Excellence at North Carolina State Ģ��AV in Raleigh, North Carolina, and Morgan State Ģ��AV in Baltimore, Maryland.

“With their significant expertise in cybersecurity, and George Mason’s long-standing pre-eminence in this sector, Cybastion’s co-location in Fuse alongside George Mason faculty and students will amplify our collective research impact and speed to innovate in cybersecurity together,” added Liza Wilson Durant, associate provost for strategic directions and community engagement.

George Mason faculty and students from the Cyber Innovation Lab have traveled to Côte d’Ivoire with Wandji to support the design and implementation of the country’s vision for digital transformation and building a secure digital economy.

“The collaboration is a significant milestone for my group to get involved in international cybersecurity and telecommunications work that includes multiple government entities from both sides of the Atlantic,” said Wijesekera. “We are very fortunate and grateful to Cybastion as the only academic institution from the U.S. to be included in their family.”

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Information technology students stepped up to secure Virginia’s elections

Teresa Donnellan — Wed, 28 Aug 2024 14:19:47 +0000

Information technology students stepped up to secure Virginia’s elections Teresa Donnellan Wed, 08/28/2024 - 10:19

Secure elections are the cornerstone of democracy, and the Virginia Cyber Navigator Internship Program (VA-CNIP) has equipped students with the skills to strengthen the cybersecurity posture of election infrastructures. As an intern last summer, information technology (IT) major Duong Thuy Nguyen helped secure a rural county's technology for the upcoming presidential election alongside two other George Mason students, Maha Khan and Sophie Bates.

Sponsored by the National Security Agency (NSA) and run by the Ģ��AV of Virginia (UVA) and five other Virginia universities including George Mason, VA-CNIP was developed to address the need for improved election security in localities that may not have the resources to implement necessary cybersecurity measures.

Nguyen, who is pursuing a dual concentration in database technology and programming and cyber security, traveled to Campbell County for a few days each week over the summer to support the county’s dedicated and hard-working IT staff in complying with the Locality Election Security Standards (LESS) required by the Commonwealth of Virginia. The LESS requirements are designed to ensure that all localities, regardless of size, have baseline cybersecurity measures in place, with further goals to achieve "preferred" or "premium" levels of security. The program thus not only prepared students for future careers but also left a lasting impact on the local governments they serve.

From left to right, Albanese, Hicks, and Nguyen with two other VA-CNIP interns. Photo provided.

George Mason Associate Professor Max Albanese helped lead VA-CNIP, designing a course in election security that was a prerequisite for all interns. In addition to the course, a two-day boot camp at UVA provided interns with training, including hands-on activities and talks from high profile industry experts and election officials. This year United States Election Assistance Commissioner Thomas Hicks spoke at the boot camp.

“Especially this year, the focus was on trying to send interns to localities that were in most need of upgrading their security posture,” said Albanese, “and that means the more rural or less technologically advanced counties.”

Each week, students worked remotely for part of their assignments but also traveled to their assigned localities for on-site work. Due to the often-rural nature of the counties involved, VA-CNIP provided a $3,000 travel allowance to each intern in addition to their $9,000 stipend. This allowed students to travel long distances and, when necessary, stay overnight in nearby towns to avoid lengthy commutes. The George Mason interns this year traveled about four hours one way to reach Campbell County.

Nguyen in Campbell County. Photo provided.

Nguyen noted how rewarding it was to work in-person with the local IT department. Her tasks included developing security policies, conducting research on cybersecurity tools, and even designing tabletop exercises to prepare local officials for possible cyber incidents on election day. Nguyen raved about her internship, which was her first. Even though she had to travel a lot, she said, she would not change her experience.

“They were all very welcoming, and they gave us all the support that we needed,” she said.

VA-CNIP exemplifies the power of academia, government, and students working together to tackle one of the most pressing challenges of our time—ensuring the security and integrity of democratic processes. While funding for VA-CNIP ends this year, there are ongoing discussions about sustaining the program going forward.

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George Mason, Howard receive $1 million from Google to launch Cybersecurity Clinic

Colleen Rich — Wed, 05 Jun 2024 19:11:38 +0000

George Mason, Howard receive $1 million from Google to launch Cybersecurity Clinic Colleen Rich Wed, 06/05/2024 - 15:11

The National Security Institute’s Cyber and Tech Center (CTC) at George Mason Ģ��AV’s Antonin Scalia Law School and Howard Ģ��AV School of Business (HUSB) have been selected to receive $1 million in support from Google’s Cybersecurity Clinics Fund to establish the NSI CTC – HUSB Cybersecurity Clinic. The funding from Google.org, the company’s philanthropic arm, is part of a $25 million collaboration with the Consortium of Cybersecurity Clinics.

Hazel Hall at Mason Square. Photo by Ron Aira/Office of Ģ��AV Branding

Cybersecurity clinics at higher education institutions provide free digital security services to under-resourced organizations, similar to how law or medical schools offer free community clinics. The new NSI CTC – HUSB Cybersecurity Clinic will give students from George Mason and HUSB the opportunity to learn cybersecurity and artificial intelligence (AI) skills in an effective, hands-on manner while simultaneously helping to protect vulnerable organizations and critical infrastructure, such as local small businesses, hospitals, schools, and nonprofit organizations, from cyber attacks.

The added opportunities for George Mason students come at a critical time and could prove beneficial in fueling the growing tech talent workforce needed for the metropolitan Washington, D.C., area. Forty-one percent of the undergraduates of the Class of 2024—and 44 percent of the graduate students—earned degrees in STEM fields and the health sciences. Computer science was among the top five majors for bachelor’s, master’s, and PhD degree recipients.

According to the World Economic Forum’s 2024 Global Risks Report, cyber insecurity remains one of the top 10 global risks over the next 10 years. Currently, there are nearly 450,000 open cybersecurity jobs available in the United States, including more than 90,000 cybersecurity jobs across the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, and demand for cyber professionals is projected to grow 32% by 2033. To ensure that communities, critical infrastructure, and businesses big and small across the United States are secure, a skilled, diverse, and AI savvy cybersecurity workforce is needed.

The NSI CTC – HUSB Cybersecurity Clinic is a jointly developed and run multidisciplinary clinic that educates and trains students from both universities on cybersecurity in a classroom and clinical setting. Thanks to the generous support of Google, the clinic will be able to provide students critical hands-on practical experience from faculty, lecturers, and mentors, enabling them to provide direct cybersecurity assistance to public critical infrastructure organizations, including state and local governments, K-12 schools, utilities, public hospitals, and small businesses within the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area—all of which are facing a barrage of cybersecurity threats without the resources to address these threats.

The region is not only a thriving tech hub, but it also houses numerous universities and other educational institutions that are training the next generation of cybersecurity practitioners. The new clinic seeks to ensure that tomorrow’s workforce is diverse, capable, and motivated to strengthen the overall cybersecurity resilience of the broader communities.

“Scalia Law is thrilled to be partnering with the Howard Ģ��AV School of Business and Google.org on this important effort to educate young leaders and drive positive cybersecurity outcomes in the local community,” said Ken Randall, Allison and Dorothy Rouse Dean and George Mason Ģ��AV Foundation Professor of Law at the Scalia Law School.

“This funding from Google for a new cybersecurity clinic allows both institutions to extend our efforts to support workforce development in the region and increase exposure to this technology. The work of the clinic promises to be very impactful in addressing an important educational need in a critical technology area,” said Anthony D. Wilbon, PhD, dean of the Howard Ģ��AV School of Business.

“Both universities have deep ties to cybersecurity and innovation—from expert faculty to students eager to tackling tomorrow’s technology challenges—and the clinic will be a great step forward to broadening and diversifying the technology education pipeline in the region,” said Jessica Jones, deputy executive director of the National Security Institute.

“The world is in a moment where emerging technologies, like AI, are creating both new opportunities and threats in the world of cybersecurity,” said Heather Adkins, vice president of Security Engineering at Google. “It’s essential that we invest in growing a strong, diverse and widespread cybersecurity workforce to help protect everyone—from critical infrastructure to small businesses and schools.”

The NSI CTC – HUSB Cybersecurity Clinic is one of 15 new clinics set to launch in 2024 at higher education institutions across the country, thanks to a collaboration from Google and the Consortium of Cybersecurity Clinics. In addition to the Google.org support, the tech company is offering NSI CTC and HUSB volunteer mentorship from Google employees, Google Titan Security Keys, and scholarships for the Google Career Certificate in Cybersecurity. Learn more on Google’s blog and the consortium’s website.

The announcement builds on Google’s 2023 support for 10 clinics, part of a combined commitment to launch 25 Google-supported cyber clinics nationwide by 2025. With the latest round of funding, Google.org has now committed more than $25 million toward creating the diverse and AI- and digital-security savvy workforce needed to protect critical U.S. infrastructure from cyber-attacks.

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Mason Competitive Cyber scores multiple wins at CyberForge 2024

Martha Bushong — Wed, 14 Feb 2024 17:50:37 +0000

Mason Competitive Cyber scores multiple wins at CyberForge 2024 Martha Bushong Wed, 02/14/2024 - 12:50

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The George Mason Ģ��AV team Mason Competitive Cyber scored first, second, and fourth place at the Cyberforge 2024 competition held on February 11-12. During the two-day conference students heard from industry professionals and enhanced their cyberskills by competing in the Capture the Flag (CTF) competition.

“Winning a Virginia-wide competition is pretty good news by itself,” said Cyber Security Engineering Department Chair Paulo Costa. “CyberForge is especially important due to the quality of the teams, the level of effort every team and associated organizations/universities put into it, and the impact it has in the Virginia cybersecurity space."

Costa consider this one of the two most important competitions in the area. The other is Virginia Military Institute’s Cyber Fusion event happening later this month on February 23-24.

The Cyberforge event featured companies such as MITRE, CCI, G2OPS, HAK5, CompTIA, Virginia Cyber Range, WiCyS, TCM Security, and more. The Mason students competed against top collegiate teams and industry professionals from around Virginia. Students value competitions as these events allow them to meet talented students and industry professionals outside their home institution.

The team won multiple different prizes, including but not limited to Canakit raspberry pi 5 kits, CompTIA vouchers, and HAK5 gift cards, but they are most proud of the winner’s plaque, which they hope to display in the department’s office.

The event was hosted by the Coastal Virginia Cybersecurity Student Association (CVCSA), Coastal Virginia Commonwealth Cyber Initiative (COVA CCI), and a local college/university's cybersecurity club.

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