Baker College of Flint cyber defense team is state champ

A Baker College of Flint cyber defense team has won the Michigan Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition (CCDC). A team from Baker College of Jackson took second place.

All members of the winning Baker College team are pursuing bachelor’s degrees in cyber defense. They are:

· Jeffrey Matter, of Clyde, Ohio, team captain

· Noah Bliss, of Hartland

· Chris Franklin, of Whitehouse, Ohio

· Sean Julian, of Lapeer

· Josh Baxter, of Lake Orion

· Greg Kempf, of Pettisville, Ohio

· Fred Perakovic, of Flint

· Brandon Hartwell, of Lapeer

The winning team and a second team from Baker College of Flint were among 11 competitors at the state event March 11-12 hosted by Davenport University, Grand Rapids.

“We are tremendously proud that both of our teams worked hard to succeed in this extremely competitive event,” said Wen Hemingway, MBA, CTP, Baker College of Flint president. “It’s an excellent experience to help them develop superior job skills. It’s also a point of pride for us that Baker College students and instructors are playing an active and successful role in maintaining our future cyber security.”

Attending the team were advisors Doug Witten, Baker College of Flint associate dean of computer information systems; Greg Kent, computer technology instructor; and John Neiling, Genesee School District IT director, adjunct instructor and lead advisor for the team.

To practice for the competition, members from both teams committed and volunteered approximately 20 hours a week beginning mid November. They continuously competed to gain membership on the “A” team.

Witten said that the Baker College curriculum provides an advantage to the students. Instruction is half lecture and half lab with many hands-on drills. Students are able to gain knowledge and develop specific skill sets necessary to accomplish the goals.

Each competitive event begins with students setting up their networked systems. Then they spend an hour protecting their applications, which are booby-trapped. The event then starts as tasks or injections, which can be already compromised. The students prepared for close to 100 injections. Next, a team of professional “white hat” hackers attack the systems to find vulnerable portions to exploit. Different this year, only two of the hackers were onsite; the remaining eight launched their attacks from around the United States.

“Our team was able to think on its feet and to adjust tactics and strategies at a moment’s notice, said Neiling. “This is why we were able to come out on top; this is exactly what we have trained for during the last few quarters.”

Members of the Flint campus second team are:

· Jacoby Humphries, of Howell (team captain)

· Nick Rendon, of Fremont, Ohio

· Reed Behnfeldt, of Wauseon, Ohio

· Lucas Brown, of Hamler, Ohio

· Alexander Jindra, of Whitehouse, Ohio

· David Wilburn, of Port Clinton, Ohio

· Sam Billings, of Clyde, Ohio

· Dan Printke, of Toledo, Ohio

“The students acquire a diverse knowledge in several IT areas,” said Kent. “This also holds true for our advising team, which allows us to prepare the students for many of the possibilities they may encounter within the tournament.”

Baker College campuses in Flint, Jackson and Clinton Township have a successful history in this annual competition with each winning at least one state championship since 2008. Baker College of Flint has earned three state championships, and two regional and national crowns.

The competition is organized by the Michigan Collegiate Cyber Defense Network, a group of network engineers, security experts and educators working together to improve cyber defense education in the state of Michigan. The group designs and holds competitions to increase and advance cyber defense students’ knowledge and joins with other state groups to expand competition.

For more information about information technology programs at Baker College of Flint, contact Kevin Pnacek in the admissions office at 810.766.4000 or kevin.pnacek@baker.edu or visit www.baker.edu.

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 23,000 students on multiple campuses and online. Baker College grants certificates and associate, bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in more than 100 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 College graduate receives Lifetime Employment Assistance—free and forever. Baker College is a pioneer in distance 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.

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Photo caption:

Baker College of Flint team wins the state title in the Michigan Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition. From left to right are: Greg Kempf, John Neiling, Noah Bliss, Brandon Hartwell, Chris Franklin, Fred Perakovic, Jeffery Matter, Doug Witten, Joshua Baxter, Sean Julian and Greg Kent.