Wiesbaden High School cyber warriors take 1st, 2nd place in annual cyber challenge

Candy Knight, 2nd Theater Signal Brigade Public Affairs

The 2nd Theater Signal Brigade Commander, Col. Michael R. Kaloostian, presented Certificates of Excellence and congratulations April 15 to Air Force Association United States CyberPatriot program participants at Wiesbaden High School for placing first and second during the CyberPatriot’s National Youth Cyber Defense Competition.

AFA US CyberPatriot is the National Youth Cyber Education Program created by the Air Force Association to inspire K-12 students toward careers in cybersecurity or other science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines critical to our nation’s future.

The CyberPatriot’s National Youth Cyber Defense Competition is the nation’s largest cyber defense competition that puts high school and middle school students in charge of securing virtual networks.

The 2nd TSB Cyber Security Division introduced the Air Force Association United States CyberPatriot program to Wiesbaden High School in the winter of 2019.

Col. Michael R. Kaloostian, 2nd Theater Signal Brigade Commander, presents Skylar Broussard with a Certificate of Excellence for his contributions to the Wiesbaden High School’s Air Force Association United States CyberPatriot program. Members of the program earned first and second place honors during AFA US CyberPatriot Challenge in the Gold Tier, At-Large Open Division in the State Round.

U.S. Army photo by Candy Knight

Twenty-two students signed up for the challenge, with 12 joining two, six-member teams: CyberAvengers and CyberDefenders.

The CyberAvengers won 1st Place, Gold Tier, At-Large Open Division in the State Round. The CyberAvengers’ were the Best Gold Tier team outside the United States and US territories. The CyberDefenders won 2nd Place, Gold Tier, At-Large Open Division in the State Round.

Col. Michael R. Kaloostian, 2nd Theater Signal Brigade Commander, presents Deziar Tezeno with a Certificate of Excellence for her contributions to the Wiesbaden High School’s Air Force Association United States CyberPatriot program. Members of the program earned first and second place honors during AFA US CyberPatriot Challenge in the Gold Tier, At-Large Open Division in the State Round.

U.S. Army photo by Candy Knight

During the six-hour per round competition window, team members must secure:

• Windows and Linux operating systems • Find and eradicate malware • Close suspicious ports on the firewall • Trace packets using CISCO Packet Tracer to answer forensic questions

Col. Michael R. Kaloostian, 2nd Theater Signal Brigade Commander, presents Emily Benjamin with a Certificate of Excellence for her contributions to the Wiesbaden High School’s Air Force Association United States CyberPatriot program. Members of the program earned first and second place honors during AFA US CyberPatriot Challenge in the Gold Tier, At-Large Open Division in the State Round.

U.S. Army photo by Candy Knight

Additionally, the teams take a CISCO networking quiz, where the questions rival senior network technician certification questions.