UVA Cyberdefenders Ready for Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Competition in Hopes of Another Trip to Nationals

Published: 
By  Jennifer McManamay
Email: jmcmanamay@virginia.edu
Close up shot of blurred hands moving on a computer keyboard
Fingers flew Saturday as the University of Virginia's cyberdefense team displayed its skills. (Photos by Tom Daly)

A relaxed but fiercely focused University of Virginia cyberdefense squad advanced to the Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition on Saturday, leading all other teams in scoring in this qualifying round for the second consecutive year.

The team, drawn from members of UVA’s Computer and Network Security Club, will now compete in person in the regional round in March for a chance to advance to the national championship in April.

With a first-place or wildcard win at regionals, it would be the Hoos’ fourth consecutive trip to nationals and the sixth since they began competing in 2018. They were national champions in 2018, 2019 and 2020.

Before getting underway, team captain Shreyas Mayya addressed the group in a Rice Hall conference room, where they worked remotely. 

“We’ve spent a lot of time preparing what we need to do for this competition,” Mayya said. “Just stick to the playbook and we’ll deal with situations as they arise.”

“Second,” he said, “communicate, communicate, communicate.”

And they did, clearly articulating what actions they were taking and how. With multiple conversations going at once, they often repeated back instructions to ensure all parties to the exchange were on the same page.

UVA students seated around a conference room table covered with computers, computer monitors, and paper and pencils, work intently during the qualifying round of the Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Competition.

Before getting underway, team captain Shreyas Mayya, left, reminds players to “communicate, communicate, communicate.”

Teamwork Carries the Day

The Hoos game plan has been refined and handed down over time, and they knew the task at hand from previous years: Defend their “business” network from hacker attacks with no interruption to essential services, such as the company’s email or purchasing platform.

The first two hours of the seven-hour exercise were spent setting up layers of security. If that’s done well, the "hackers" — computer security professionals who volunteer to test the students’ skills — will have a tougher time getting into the network to bring down services, said Chris Marotta, last year’s team captain. Now graduated with a bachelor’s in computer science, Marotta was back to serve as a judge, ensuring the team followed the competition rules.

A live online dashboard constantly displayed the status of six services — green for running, red for down — for each of the 17 teams, identified only by a number. UVA’s number stayed solid green all day. As the final hour approached, the only real question was how the Hoos would score in “injects.” 

Being on a team like this hammers home that if you’re not communicating ... things will take longer to get done.

Injects are tasks assigned on deadline that in the real world might come from management during a network breach. For example, they were asked to list team members’ skills and to describe the difference between policy and procedure, illustrating with examples from their work.

Facing a barrage of such requests in the afternoon, the team divided and conquered. Players asked for and received help if it looked like a deadline was in jeopardy.

“At UVA, we believe our students excel because, in addition to giving them a solid foundation in problem-solving, we also emphasize the development of essential soft skills like writing and teamwork,” said Jack W. Davidson, a computer science professor and the Cyberdefense Program's director.

The teamwork illustrates why series like the National Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition, which get progressively more difficult, are so valuable to students.

“Being on a team like this hammers home that if you’re not communicating, things are going to break, things will take longer to get done. It helps everyone be successful around you and not just yourself,” Kyle McDonald, a team member who was observing, said.

UVA students seated around a conference room table covered with computers, computer monitors, and paper and pencils, work intently during the qualifying round of the Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Competition.
UVA students seated around a conference room table covered with computers, computer monitors, and paper and pencils, work intently during the qualifying round of the Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Competition.
Close up of a laptop computer with writing on the screen and hands on the keyboard.
UVA students seated around a conference room table covered with computers, computer monitors, and paper and pencils, work intently during the qualifying round of the Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Competition.
UVA students seated around a conference room table covered with computers, computer monitors, and paper and pencils, work intently during the qualifying round of the Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Competition.

Making Cyberdefense Champions

Only eight of the team’s 12 members could participate Saturday. Five were new to CCDC competition, versus two last year. That was intentional. Developing newer members is a recent team priority, Mayya said, and the qualifier is a good first test of their skills.

Among those skills is performing when “stuff is melting down around you,” said Emil Baggs, the 2023 team leader and a 2020 national champion.

“More advanced competitions can get very stressful,” Baggs said. “Outside of this, I’ve experienced very few opportunities beyond real-life work with that kind of pressure.”

An annual boot camp brings members back to Grounds before classes start in January for a week of practice and team building. They also practice twice a week, using documentation from previous competitions for training.

Outside of these competitions, I’ve experienced very few opportunities beyond real-life work with that kind of pressure.

“I’d say the primary reason for our success is a culture of hard work,” Mayya said. “Mentorship is also a huge aspect.”

Besides Mayya, Saturday’s players were veterans Austin Tran and Nicholas Winschel, along with newcomers Nikhil Boyalla, Benjamin Wolcott, Jonathan Cooper, Rushil Umaretiya and Iuri Vintonyak. Austin Song was on hand to observe. Not present were Charlotte Miller and James Greene.

“Hopefully, some of these students will pursue cybersecurity careers,” Davidson said, noting a critical shortage in the field. “They will be on the front line of protecting infrastructures you and I rely on — banking, transportation, power generation and distribution, and a lot more.”

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