CSU Competes in the CyberForce Competition

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On November 14–15, 2025, undergraduate students from Chicago State University’s Department of Computing, Information, Mathematical Sciences, and Technology (CIMST) proudly participated in the 11th CyberForce Competition, held at the Tinley Park Convention Center, Illinois. This year’s competition featured 93 teams from 73 universities across the United States, highlighting the national scale and competitiveness of the event.

The CyberForce Competition, organized by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), is a premier national cybersecurity exercise designed to enhance students’ skills in defending critical infrastructure against real-world cyber threats. The competition immerses participants in a realistic, high-pressure cyber defense environment that mirrors challenges faced by professionals in government and industry.
The following undergraduate Computer Science students represented Chicago State University in the competition:

• Sodeeq Adeyinka
• Sokoni Bobb
• Sasha Carr
• Rayshond Hall
• Devin Jenkins
• Maleck Johnson

During the event, the CSU team was tasked with defending a simulated enterprise network against continuous, live cyberattacks while ensuring the availability of critical business services. At the outset of the competition, the team strategically divided responsibilities into key roles, including network defense, incident response, system hardening, service monitoring, and documentation. Maleck Johnson played a critical role in monitoring system services, applying security patches, and responding to alerts as they emerged in the environment.

Throughout the competition, the team faced a range of technical challenges, including misconfigured services, credential and access issues, and simulated attacks targeting web servers, email systems, and databases. Working collaboratively under time pressure, the CSU team prioritized restoring core services while simultaneously strengthening system security. Their efforts included enabling and tuning firewalls, reviewing system and network logs, updating configurations, and closing unnecessary ports and services.
By the conclusion of the competition, the CSU team had significantly improved the overall security posture of their environment while maintaining the availability of most mission-critical services. The experience strengthened students’ technical cybersecurity skills, as well as their abilities in team communication, rapid decision-making, and task prioritization in a live cyber defense scenario.

The team was mentored by Prof. Kristen Griffin, whose guidance and technical support played an essential role in preparing students for the competition and supporting them throughout the event. In addition, Dr. Mohammad Abdus Salam, Professor and Chairman of the CIMST Department, facilitated and strongly encouraged student participation, reinforcing CSU’s commitment to experiential learning and workforce preparation in cybersecurity and computing disciplines.

CSU’s participation in the CyberForce Competition reflects the department’s ongoing dedication to hands-on, high-impact learning experiences that prepare students for careers in cybersecurity, computing, and national infrastructure protection.