Cyber @ UCI hosts a competitive side for members who want to dive deeper into cybersecurity in a competitive environment. The main competitions we compete in are the Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition (CCDC), Collegiate Penetration Testing Competition (CPTC), and NCL (National Cyber League). Scroll down for information on each one!
Reach out to our Competition Leads and add the role for the respective competition on Discord!
CCDC
The Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition (CCDC) is the premier collegiate cybersecurity competition in the United States. Over 100 teams across different regionals and qualifiers compete every year. It is endorsed by Congress and sponsored by top defense companies, with winners receiving special attention as to recruitment. The scenario is that each college team, the Blue Team, inherits an identical corporate network and has to secure it against a live (not simulated!) team of penetration testers, the Red Team, otherwise known as “the hackers”, all while we are handed business tasks by the corporation who owns the network. It’s the best applied cybersecurity experience you can get in college.
Previous notable results:
2019
- Western Region: 3rd Place
2021
- Western Region: 1st Place
- Nationals: 5th Place
2022
- Western Region: 2nd Place
2023
- Hivestorm: 1st Place
2024
- CCDC Nationals: 4th Place
- Western Region: 2nd Place
- CCDC Wildcard: 1st Place
CPTC
Collegiate Penetration Testing Competition (CPTC) is a newer competition hosted out of Rochester Institute of Technology, which focuses on penetration testing AKA red teaming. We have a corporate network to attack and get as much access as possible within an allotted time. Recruitment and meetings will start in the Spring.
https://cp.tc/NCL
NCL is a national CTF hosted by Cyber Skyline and the National Cyber League Inc. non profit. It is a Jeopardy style capture the flag competition, meaning you get small cybersecurity challenges and have 72 hours to complete them. One you complete one, you get a small piece of text called a “flag”, indicating you got the required unauthorized access or solved the problem
https://nationalcyberleague.org/about