Baker College cyber defense team wins state invitational

A team of Baker College of Jackson students won the Michigan Collegiate Cyber Defense Network (MCCDN) Invitational on Saturday, Nov. 1. Another Baker College team, representing the Flint campus, earned third place.

The winning team members from Baker College of Jackson are:

· Benjamin Carroll, of Jackson, team captain and offensive lead

· Benjamin Clark, of Jackson, team co-captain and networking lead

· Timothy Fee, of Albion, programming lead

· Lucas Gorczyca, of Jackson, MS Windows lead

· Jacob Layher, of Jackson, Linux lead

· Kyle Savage, of Lakeland, Florida

· Samuel Carroll, of Jackson

· Kameron Putnam, of Jackson

Patricia A. Kaufman, Ed.D., Baker College of Jackson president, said “We are extremely proud of the accomplishments of our students and the strength of our information technology programs.”

The teams were provided with identical systems via individual Cisco routers. Students worked to prevent unauthorized access and to accurately identify compromises and compromise attempts while keeping the network operational and maintaining business functionality.

“Our students performed exceptionally well no matter the obstacles that were thrown at them during this all-day event,” said David Gomez, D.B.A., team advisor and dean of business and technology programs at Baker College of Jackson. “They are exceptionally talented and have a great passion for this field. This win reflects their extensive practice and preparation.”

Teams representing nine colleges and universities throughout the state competed via web interface from their home campuses using the virtual infrastructure of the Michigan Cyber Range. A team representing Ferris State University won second place.

Scores were based on the team’s ability to keep critical systems running, the number of service requests completed, incident response techniques and mitigation planning.

Jackson campus team Captain Benjamin Carroll credited his team’s success to the extensive practice with all 21 students at Baker College of Jackson who participate in the extracurricular cyber defense program.

“We meet regularly to practice and share what we learn in class, which advances the collective knowledge of the entire group,” he said.

The MCCDN is a group of network engineers, security experts and educators with the goal to encourage academic success for entry into the highly competitive profession of computer networking and cyber defense. For more information, visit www.michiganccdn.com.

For more information about Baker College of Jackson’s computer information systems programs, contact Kevin Pnacek in the admissions office at kevin.pnacek@baker.edu or 517.788.7800.

The largest private college in Michigan, Baker College is a not-for-profit higher education institution accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. It serves more than 28,000 students on multiple campuses and online. Baker grants certificates and associate, bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in more than 150 programs across diverse academic fields, including business, health sciences, engineering, information technology, education and human services. An impressive 97 percent of available graduates are employed. Every Baker graduate receives Lifetime Employment Assistance—free and forever. Baker is a pioneer in online education and offers students the option of completing a degree 100 percent online, without ever visiting a campus. For information, visit www.baker.edu or follow Baker College on Twitter, @bakercollege, or on Facebook, www.facebook.com/bakercollege.