In early November, San Marin’s Cyber Patriots team partook in their first qualifying match this year.
The Cyber Patriots team competes in an annual national competition sponsored by the Air Force Association. In this competition, the members of the club are given a virtual machine (VM) and a scenario describing the setting in which the machine is found and what the machine is used for. They are then tasked with securing the VM as best as possible without interfering with the functions the machine has to perform, which is detailed in the scenario. Members work with Windows, Linux, and Cisco operating systems in competitions.
The Cyber Patriots team will compete in several competitions throughout the year, beginning with qualifying competitions and ending with state semifinals. The qualifying matches will determine the bracket in which the team is placed. These brackets will determine the team’s matchups at state competitions. If the team wins at state semifinals, they will go to Washington DC for a nationwide competition.
“I’d love it if we could place into the gold bracket and not be [in the] bronze [bracket], because I only have two years left at this school,” junior Ryan Blanchard, President of the club, said. “This [year] is a good way to feel it out [and find out] what it’s going to be like next year, when we’re more experienced.”
On November 5th, the Cyber Patriots team took part in their first round of their competition. The round consisted of a routing activity, a quiz on routing, and two virtual machines.
“[The round] was exactly like our practices.” said Blanchard. “It was a good experience. I think we did very well. We got 100%. We found everything.”
The team’s performance at the first round has, according to Blanchard, increased the chances for the team to place in either the gold or platinum bracket, which would improve their chances of advancing to further rounds in the state competitions.
The team’s second competition round took place on December 8th. Reporting on the team’s second round can be found on the Pony Express’s website-www.smhsponyexpress.com
