The Georgia Tech Office of Information Technology Cyber Security department hosted the inaugural Southeastern Cyber Cup Nov. 2 and 9, 2023. The national-level higher education cyber competition was facilitated over a two-round virtual hacking experience for 39 student and staff teams.

The event drew close to 100 participants from ten colleges and universities from across the state of Georgia. Participating institutions included: Atlanta Technical College, Augusta University, Columbus State University, Emory University, Georgia State University, Georgia Tech (and the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI)), Kennesaw State University, Middle Georgia State University and Savannah State University.

Participants solved “capture the flag” challenges, designed to help sharpen cybersecurity skills and knowledge.

“The Southeastern Cyber Cup was a fun way to highlight the importance of cybersecurity as a community responsibility – a responsibility that’s not the job of just one person,” said Chief Information Security Officer Leo Howell. “Teams got the chance to learn how to spot web vulnerabilities and participate in various exercises on topics such as cryptography, forensic investigations, and incident response," continued Howell. "Next year, the competition will be bigger and better!”

Deloitte served as the inaugural event's partnering sponsor. Additional sponsors included Elastic, Fortinet, and Splunk.

Team ‘A Family that Hacks Together Stacks Together’ from Georgia Tech took top place in the competition. Rounding out the top three teams were 'Suvoni' (Georgia Tech) and 'Clockcycles' (GTRI).

To learn more about the Southeastern Cyber Cup, visit sites.gatech.edu/cybercup.