March 05, 2013

Personal computer fixes available March 9

by Pete Rosenbery

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Have a personal computer that is acting up?

The “Security Dawgs,” a registered student organization at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, is hosting a community computer analysis day on Saturday, March 9. 

Students will examine desktop and laptop computers, perform security assessments and install necessary patches, updates and apply free industry-standard software.  The analysis will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in room 204B of the College of Applied Sciences and Arts building.

The maintenance is free, but donations will be accepted.  Proceeds will go to help fund the Security Dawg’s trip to the Midwest Regional Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition, March 22-23, at Moraine Valley Community College in Palos Hills.  The winner advances to the 2013 National Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition, April 19-21, where they will compete against 10 other regional champions for the national title.


Media Advisory

Reporters, photographers and camera crews are welcome to cover community computer analysis day at SIU Carbondale, Saturday, March 9, between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. For more information contact Tom Imboden, Information Systems and Applied Technologies assistant professor, at 618/453-7296 or by e-mail at timboden@siu.edu.


Tom Imboden, assistant professor in Information Systems and Applied Technologies, said that people who bring in their computers will have the most recent patches, updates and free industry-standard software installed, if needed.  Repair work or virus removal will not be available during this event, but references to local computer repairs will be available, he said.

The organization is looking to raise about $3,000 for the trip to cover expenses for the 11-member team, which includes three alternates.  The Security Dawgs won the Illinois Cyber Defense Competition last month.  The competitions replicate what information systems technology students will see in the corporate information technology world.

“We had a really strong showing in the state tournament, and think we are going to have another one to chalk up on our scorecard in regionals and hope to advance to nationals,” he said.

SIU Carbondale will compete against teams from Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio and Wisconsin.

The Security Dawgs are successful.  In state competitions, the team has first-place finishes in 2006 and 2013, second-place finishes in 2007, 2008, 2010 and 2011, and a third-place finish in 2009. 

For more information about the security analysis event, contact Imboden timboden@siu.edu.