UAH student wins national 2024 Department of Energy CyberForce® competition

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (AUG. 14, 2024) – A student at The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) has won the 2024 Department of Energy (DOE) CyberForce competition®, a national contest designed to hone cybersecurity skills and visibility by challenging students to face off in simulated cyber-focused scenarios centered on securing operational energy technology from adversarial forces. Hunter Wittenborn, a computer science major heading into his sophomore year this fall at UAH, a part of the University of Alabama System, topped 149 students from 77 universities and colleges across the country to emerge victorious. The event was hosted by the DOE's Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response (CESER) and the Argonne National Laboratory.

"The competition had a focus on cybersecurity, delving into things such as network inspection and server administration topics," Wittenborn explains. "There were moments that had me stumped, and even some things I hadn't looked into before. I stayed motivated throughout the entire competition, though, and it proved to be well worth my time! My main goal was simply to see how far I could get, though the competitive aspect definitely started to kick in as I went on. I especially saw the support people showed each other throughout the competition, and that was by far one of the best things I took away from the event."

"I am excited to see the ingenuity and hard work of this year's competitors," says CESER director Puesh M. Kumar. "Competitions like Reign enhance skills and drive interest in joining the nation's rising cyber energy workforce. Congratulations to the winner, Hunter Wittenborn, from The University of Alabama at Huntsville!"

The need for workers with sophisticated cyber skills is increasing. From January 2023-2024, there were only 82 workers available for every 100 cybersecurity job openings in the United States, according to 2023 CyberSeek data from the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

As detailed in this video, CyberForce works to increase hands-on cyber education to college students and professionals, as well as awareness of the connection between critical infrastructure and cybersecurity and basic understanding of cybersecurity within a real-world scenario. Each participant entered a virtual escape room with a goal to help their character, nicknamed "DUDE," conquer five levels of varying technical skills and challenges in order to escape. The students had to use cybersecurity, computer science, mathematics and critical-thinking skills to traverse from one level to the next. Wittenborn helped DUDE escape all five levels in the fastest time - six hours, 42 minutes and 11 seconds - and was declared the Reign Edition champion.

"My roots are definitely in my passions for programming and server administration," the UAH student notes. "This competition exposed me to some niche areas of cybersecurity that I'll continue to explore going forward. My tech-related interests proved to be advantageous, but the event also exemplified how there's always more out there to learn. My spark for cybersecurity has grown through this competition, and without a doubt I'll be looking into how I can incorporate this into my craft as I continue through my career."

"Reign provides a unique and fun educational opportunity for students to absorb complex topics in a relatable way," says Amanda Theel, national laboratory lead of the CyberForce Program and group leader of Workforce Development in Argonne's Strategic Security Sciences division. "Ideally, these students can take what they learned and use that experience to build confidence within this field."

The CyberForce Program includes the team-based CyberForce Competition®, webinars, virtual career fairs and an online workforce portal. Students can develop skills, find job opportunities and stay informed about upcoming events and training by visiting the CyberForce website.