Rensselaer students in the Information Technology and Web Science (ITWS) program had great success in the recent National Cyber League (NCL) cybersecurity competition. The NCL “enables students to prepare and test themselves against practical cybersecurity challenges that they will likely face in the workforce, such as identifying hackers from forensic data, pentesting and auditing vulnerable websites, recovering from ransomware attacks, and much more!”

The Rensselaer team called “Free Food @RPI” finished 48th out of 3,926 teams, which is in the 99th percentile, and finished in the top 10 for cyber forensics. The Rensselaer team called “Please Hire Us!!!” placed 239th, which is in the 94th percentile. Christopher Reed ’24, a dual major in ITWS and computer science, was also recognized individually by the competition organizers for his exceptional achievement throughout the competition.

“Our students really showcased their skills and training at this national competition. We hope that their achievements help highlight the strength of the ITWS program as a whole, as well as our newly launched Rensselaer Cybersecurity Collaboratory,” said Brian Callahan, ITWS lecturer and graduate program director, director of the collaboratory, and the students’ NCL coach.