Signal 9, Capitol Technology University's elite cyber battle team, has had an exciting beginning to their season of competitions this year. The team has been pushing the limits of their cyber defensive and offensive skills, with impressive placements and significant learning experiences along the way.
In January, Signal-9 competed for the 2025 Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition (MACCDC) Qualifiers and received an impressive 8th place! They will officially be going to regionals on March 21-22. The team had practiced rigorously leading up to the event by performing attack and defense scenarios using a virtual mock-MACCDC environment that our students built in Capitol Tech’s on-campus Cyber Battle Lab. This environment mimicked the MACCDC platform in which students must assume administrative duties over a commercial network. They are then scored based on their ability under stress to maintain business critical services, detect and respond to active threats from a red team, and respond to business related requests. They are also required to use critical thinking skills within high-pressure situations to weigh security needs vs business needs and implement cybersecurity measures to protect business assets.
This past weekend, the team took on a new challenge at the Information Security and Technology Symposium (ISTS) hosted by the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) in Rochester, NY. Over the course of the two-day competition, Signal 9 engaged in another intense attack and defense competition. They were tasked with defending a network of systems against a seasoned red team of cybersecurity professionals. In addition to the main event, the Signal 9 also participated in the King of the Hill (KoTH) and Capture the Flag (CTF) segments, further showcasing their diverse skill set in cybersecurity.
Through their participation in MACCDC, ISTS, and other nationwide competitions, Signal 9 is able to further hone their expertise, learning about technical aspects such as system administration, incident response, coding, threat hunting, business ethics, and user experience. They gain valuable experience in handling real-time security threats and responding to live attacks in high-pressure environments. They also network with peers and industry professionals that share their interest in the cyber field.
Signal 9 expresses their gratitude to the hosts of each competition and look forward to more events coming soon!
Edited by Erica Decker