February 17, 2017

‘Security Dawgs’ hosting competition on Saturday

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Southern Illinois University Carbondale’s “Security Dawgs” will host a section of the annual Illinois Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition on Saturday, Feb. 18. 

SIU is one of two sites to host the statewide, eight-team competition, which mirrors what students will see in the corporate technology world. The “Security Dawgs” will seek a third state title in five years. Also competing at SIU will be a team from Southeastern Illinois College.


Media Advisory

Reporters, photographers and camera crews are welcome to cover the event from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Go to Room 204B in the College of Applied Sciences and Arts Building C. For more information, contact Tom Imboden, associate professor, Information Systems and Applied Technologies and team faculty adviser, at 694-1297 or timboden@siu.edu. 

The Security Dawgs return seven members from last year’s team and have been practicing since the start of the fall 2016 semester. In the competition, teams work to keep their site secure from hackers and unwanted cyber attacks, and also are responsible for system maintenance, upgrades, and completing other requests, such as installing or upgrading a website. Teams earn points based upon how successful they are at accomplishing the business tasks, in addition to identifying and stopping hacker attacks, and writing incident reports. 

The state competition site is Moraine Valley Community College. The teams competing there are:

DePaul University, DeVry University, Governors State University, John A. Logan College, Lewis University, and Moraine Valley Community College. 

The top team in the state will advance to the Midwest regional competition, March 17-18, at Moraine Valley Community College to face the top teams from Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio and Wisconsin. Second-place in the respective state competitions will compete for a wildcard slot on March 4. The Midwest regional winner advances to the 10th annual National Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition April 13-15 in San Antonio, Texas.

SIU has won three state titles: 2006, 2013 and 2014. The team has finished second in the state six times, including last year.

Competing for SIU Carbondale, listed by hometown, major, and year in school are:

ILLINOIS

  • Chicago: Robert Brevard, information systems technologies, senior (alternate)
  • Decatur: Jordan Brown, information systems technologies, senior (alternate)
  • Freeport: Brandon Truckenmiller, information systems technologies, senior
  • Freeport: Logan Truckenmiller, information systems technologies, junior
  • Hoffman Estates: Christian Scott, information systems technologies, junior
  • Marion: Trenton Taylor, information systems technologies, senior
  • Pittsburg: Curtis McRoy, information systems technologies, senior (alternate)
  • Rockford: Jonathon Farmer, information systems technologies and technical resource management, senior
  • Sesser: Cody Lingle, information systems technologies, senior
  • Wheaton: Michael McCarthy, information systems technologies, junior (alternate)

GEORGIA

  • Atlanta: Hallie Martin, information systems technologies, senior

TEXAS

  • Rosenberg: Vincent Davis, computer science, senior