MassBay Student Cyber Security Team Places 4th at National Competition

The future of cyber security may lie with a handful of students at MassBay Community College.

The school's cyber security team, Segfault, placed 4th at the National Cyber League 2016 Competition. The contest consisted of 144 teams nationwide competing online in a cloud-based environment, where students were tasked with solving problems designed to replicate those they might face in the real world if their company fell victim to a cyber attack.

MassBay's student team consisted of Paul Buonopane of Medfield, Andrew Liberatore of Franklin, David Dew of Wellesley, Chester Moses of Framingham, Timothy Ferguson of Marlboro, Corey Skinner of Clinton and Fred Dolan of Newton.

The team dissected each problem to find a solution, which included downloading files, decryption to view passwords and analyzing information on the attack.

"I am extremely proud of our students who participated in a team at this competition and for the second year they have achieved top 10 placement," MassBay computer science professor Shamsi Moussavi said in a statement. "Students spend time outside the classroom to study, practice, collaborate, help each other, and compete in this competition. They have set a high bar for next year’s team, as well as a guideline for future students to learn from."

This is the second year that MassBay has participated in the competition. Last fall, the team placed 2nd nationwide.

MassBay added the Cyber Security Associate of Science degree program this year, which builds on the school's popular cyber security certificate program.

Photo (L-R): Fred Dolan (Newton), David Dew (Wellesley), Paul Buonopane (Medfield), Timothy Ferguson (Marlboro), Chester Moses (Framingham) and Andrew Liberatore (Franklin). Corey Skinner (Clinton) is not pictured.

Photo submitted by MassBay Community College