Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • Videos
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Library
    • Research
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
STEM
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • Videos
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Library
    • Research
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
STEM

Syracuse University Team Wins 2018 National Cyber Analyst Challenge

Friday, April 27, 2018, By Matt Wheeler
Share
awardsCollege of Engineering and Computer ScienceSchool of Information StudiesStudents

A team of Syracuse University students was awarded first place and $20,000 in the National Cyber Analyst Challenge (NCAC) at Temple University in Philadelphia in April.

Syracuse University’s winning team in the 2018 National Cyberanalyst Challenge comprised, from left: Anil Kumar Agrawal, Dheeraj Vijayaraghavan Menon, Michael DiFalco, Priyank Thavai and Sirisha Prakash.

The team was comprised of cybersecurity graduate students Priyank Thavai and Sirisha Prakash from the College of Engineering and Computer Science (ECS) and information management graduate students Anil Agrawal, Michael DiFalco and Dheeraj Menon from the School of Information Studies (iSchool). The students are also members of the iSchool’s Information Security Club or ECS’s Orange Hackers Association. They cite the cross-disciplinary nature of their team as a key advantage in their victory.

“Our academic programs prepared us well for this challenge,” says Prakash. “Many of the attacks we uncovered in the competition were ones that we were familiar with from our coursework.”

At NCAC, students are given six hours and a large set of network traffic data to identify the origins of a cyberattack and its potential damage, and then make a seven-minute presentation of their findings and recommendations to a panel of C-suite-level judges from industry. This was the final phase of the challenge. The team had previously advanced through an initial phase in which they won $10,000.

“You have to think like an attacker,” explains Thavai. “If you know what you are looking for the data can reveal suspicious activity. It’s our job to link it and weed out red herrings.”

The NCAC win is another notch in the University’s belt for cybersecurity. Syracuse was named the top school for cybersecurity in the country by Military Times in 2017 and 2018. Faculty from institutions all over the world rely on security education labs designed by Syracuse professor and team co-advisor Wenliang (Kevin) Du to expand their cybersecurity knowledge and teach their students. ECS offers a masters in cybersecurity, online and on campus, and a cybersecurity semester for undergraduates. The iSchool offers a certificate of advanced study in information security management.

“I am proud of our group for this tremendous accomplishment,” says the team’s co-advisor, Bahram Attaie. “The team leveraged their individual strengths with different cybersecurity toolsets, applied that knowledge to the large data set they were given and came together to present their work in front of the judges, earning the top slot at the competition.”

This is the second time this academic year that a Syracuse University student team has succeeded at a national competition in cybersecurity. In October, the Orange Hackers Association took second place in the CyberSeed Security Competition in Connecticut. The student organization promotes affinity for cybersecurity, continuous learning and participation in skill-based competitions.

Ultimately, the students’ education and participation in competitions like NCAC prepare them for success in the cybersecurity industry—an industry that is consistently seeking skilled employees.

“Participating in a national or regional cybersecurity competition like this is a great benefit to the students and a great way to measure the strength of a cybersecurity program,” says Du. “Many companies prefer to hire students with experience in these competitions, and our students are highly sought after in the industry because of their skills.”

About Syracuse University

Syracuse University is a private, international research university with distinctive academics, diversely unique offerings and an undeniable spirit. Located in the geographic heart of New York State, with a global footprint, and nearly 150 years of history, Syracuse University offers a quintessential college experience. The scope of Syracuse University is a testament to its strengths: a pioneering history dating back to 1870; a choice of more than 200 majors and 100 minors offered through 13 schools and colleges; nearly 15,000 undergraduates and 5,000 graduate students; more than a quarter of a million alumni in 160 countries; and a student population from all 50 U.S. states and 123 countries. For more information, please visit www.syracuse.edu.

  • Author

Matt Wheeler

  • Recent
  • Behind the Greens with Drumlins’ Peter McPartland
    Friday, June 24, 2022, By Abby Haessig
  • Tips for Managing Your Spring (Achoo!) Allergies
    Friday, June 24, 2022, By Diane Stirling
  • 9 Faculty Members Presented NSF CAREER Awards
    Friday, June 24, 2022, By Diane Stirling
  • Faculty expert reflects on 80th anniversary of Holocaust publication
    Thursday, June 23, 2022, By Vanessa Marquette
  • Syracuse Views Spring/Summer 2022
    Wednesday, June 22, 2022, By News Staff

More In STEM

Two Professors Win Prestigious Google Research Scholar Awards

Assistant Professors Ferdinando Fioretto and Endadul Hoque, faculty members in the College of Engineering and Computer Science, have earned highly competitive Google Research Scholar awards. The Google Research Scholar Program provides unrestricted gifts of up to $60,000 to support research…

Hidden in Plain Sight: A&S Biologists Say Southern Right Whale Habitat Choice is Key to Keeping Young Calves Safe

Sitting on a beach looking out to sea, it may seem unusual to spot one of the world’s largest animals swimming in shallow, coastal, 30-foot-deep waters. But each winter, female southern right whales migrate thousands of miles to bay habitats…

AFRL-Syracuse University Consider Quantum Research Pairing, Student Opportunities for Future Collaborations

More than 30 Syracuse University faculty and leaders and representatives from the U.S. Air Force Research Lab convened on campus on May 6 to ideate around future collaboration opportunities. These include combined research initiatives in quantum information science and quantum…

Graduate Students Bring Physics to Local Classrooms With Outreach Program

“When am I ever going to use this in real life?” That is the oft-heard refrain from middle- and high-school science students, struggling through labs and formulas that feel as far removed from their day-to-day as, well, space travel. Sarthak…

Bringing ‘CSI’ Into the Classroom

Dusting for fingerprints, documenting blood stain patterns and measuring bullet trajectory—you might think this is a description of a recent episode from the popular television series “CSI.” While this may be true, these are also the daily lessons students are…

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.

Connect With Us

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
Social Media Directory

For the Media

Find an Expert Follow @SyracuseUNews
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • @SyracuseU
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • @SUCampus
  • Social Media Directory
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Campus Status
  • Syracuse.edu
© 2022 Syracuse University News. All Rights Reserved.