Competitions
Students and faculty from Valencia College have been participating in the National Cyber League (NCL) competitions since the inception of the NCL program in 2011. The number of Valencia College students competing at the NCL has increased from 16 players in 2013 to 61 players in Fall of 2017. NCL competition scouting reports, show Valencia College students ranking among the top players in the nation!
Valencia College Cyber Defense team also participated in the 2016, 2017, and 2018 Collegiate Cyber Defense Competitions as a member of the Southeast Region. The associate in Science program in Network Engineering Technology at Valencia College is the only two-year program in the state of Florida that continues to participate in the Southeast Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition (CECCDC). The Cybersecurity Club at Valencia College plays a major role in helping students, both in and out of the NET program, train for the competitions. Valencia College has also created a Cyber Stadium for players to practice all year round for various Cyber Defense Exercises. The Cybersecurity club members volunteer as CyberPatriot mentors for various high schools in the Orange and Osceola counties.
Here is what some of our Cyber Defense Students have to say about their experiences with the competitions:
"Because of the ethical hacking course, I had the honor to compete in the SECDCC. It was a great experience and also a motivation to continue and advance in Cyber Security. The competition helped get a better understanding of security and securing networks. This competition is a great way for students to get their feet wet in understanding basic security configurations and the importance of network security. It was also a very fun experience and taught the value of working as a team and helping others. I would definitely love to compete again if I had the opportunity and look forward to other cyber competitions in the future"
"I have competed in the National Cyber League (NCL). This competition was a great learning addition because it drove students to research and to learn more about techniques and tools that can be used in the field of cyber security. The challenges consisted of capture-the-flag type questions which forced students to use critical thinking, reasoning, and go beyond traditional classroom learning. It provided real life hands-on exercises on cryptography, cyber security, forensics, ethical hacking, network analysis, and more. My experience with the NCL competition is that it was fun and helped me to develop my thinking and research abilities in the computer network and cyber security fields."
"I have also competed in the South-Eastern Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition (SECCDC). This competition was similar to an on-the-job experience that a classroom could not offer. It was a team exercise and the goal was to effectively harden servers as well as to complete job assignments and reports in a timely fashion while hackers were trying to penetrate the network and hack our systems. My experience with SECCDC helped me to realize the importance of cyber security today, and it also gave me the experience to work in teams with other people and to really take the job seriously"
