Here’s what some of our participant’s had to stay
- I would like to extend my gratitude to the UConn Connecticut Advanced Computing Center and Synchrony for hosting this year's CyberSEED '26! This experience has significantly deepened my passion for cybersecurity and highlighted the continuous learning opportunities this career path offers.
During CyberSEED '26, I had the privilege of collaborating with my Rochester Institute of Technology peers. Together, we tackled a variety of Capture The Flag (CTF) challenges in areas including:
- Open Source Intelligence
- Cryptography
- Password Cracking
- Forensics & Log Analysis
- Network Traffic Analysis
- Reverse Engineering
- Web Application Security
- Incident Response Briefing
Form the beginning of my journey hands-on practice has been a cherished aspect about cybersecurity. Through CyberSEED I was able to develop my skills thoroughly through hands-on practice and gain a deeper understanding of concepts I had learned previously. This experience has fueled my passion further, and I am eager to continue exploring more competitions in the future.
Although my peers and I initially approached this competition with apprehension, given the caliber of the participants, we persevered. Leveraging our nearly four years of cybersecurity knowledge, we finished in 28th place, placing us within the top 22% of competitors and in the 78.3 percentile!
One of my favorite moments was being able to create an Incident Response Briefing based on a previous forensic analysis CTF. Being able to practice speaking to a panel of stakeholders and security officials from Synchrony was a wonderful experience! This also strengthened my confidence in conveying important requirements strengthening my presentation skills and supporting my passion for GRC and Risk Analysis.
Overall, this experience not only boosted our confidence but also demonstrated how knowledge acquired through our studies within, RIT Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences, translates directly from labs to real-world contexts. I look forward to furthering my cybersecurity education and participating in more competitions like CyberSEED!
- Last week our team competed in the CyberSEED 2026 Capture the Flag competition.
We finished 36th out of 129 teams, with challenges spanning OSINT, cryptography, reverse engineering, network traffic analysis, and more. We solved 95.6% of the challenges and landed 2,240 of 2,800 points.
The one module we skipped was the incident response briefing. The module was a live presentation to the hosts that tests how we communicate risk. We were all in class from 2 to 6:30 pm and the event ended at 5, so we made the most of the time we had.
Overall, the event was a fun and worthwhile experience! Thank you to UConn Connecticut Advanced Computing Center for hosting!
- I’m glad to have participated in the CyberSEED 2026 Capture the Flag (CTF) competition alongside my teammates.
Our team placed 36th out of 129 teams, earning 2,240 out of 2,800 points and solving 95.6% of the challenges. The competition covered a range of cybersecurity topics, including cryptography, OSINT, forensic & log analysis, network traffic analysis, password cracking, web application exploitation and reverse engineering.
Although we weren’t able to complete every module due to our class schedule from 2:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., while the competition ended at 5:00 p.m., we made the most of the time available and achieved a strong result as a team.
This was a valuable opportunity to apply our cybersecurity knowledge, strengthen our problem-solving skills, and learn through hands-on challenges. Grateful for the experience and looking forward to taking on more challenges as I continue growing in the field of cybersecurity!
Thank you to the UConn Connecticut Advanced Computing Center for hosting this event!