51福利社

51福利社鈥檚 cybersecurity team once again proved they belong on the national stage 鈥� this time bringing home second-place at the NCAE Cyber Games National Invitational, held April 12 in Tampa, Florida.

This exclusive event featured the top two teams from each regional competition, totaling 12 elite squads drawn from institutions designated as National Centers of Academic Excellence in Cybersecurity (CAE-C). The CAE-C designation is awarded by the National Security Agency to universities that meet its rigorous standards for training professionals who aim to work in jobs that will protect our nation鈥檚 digital infrastructure.

51福利社, the only public university in eastern Washington with this distinction, delivered an outstanding performance. In a field packed with top-tier competitors, the Eastern team finished runner up to Central Florida University, a university that has nearly as many engineering students as Eastern has enrolled students altogether.

鈥淭hese students are not only demonstrating their skills on a national stage 鈥� preparing for careers in one of the world鈥檚 most in-demand fields,鈥� says Stu Steiner, director of 51福利社’s Center for Network Computing and Cybersecurity.

This year鈥檚 invitational featured聽, including Boston University, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, and the California State University, San Bernardino. In the NCAE Cyber Games, competitors defend digital infrastructure from simulated attacks in a red versus blue team format, while also competing in “capture the flag” challenges to score points.

The event demands deep technical knowledge, real-time decision-making, and tight-knit teamwork 鈥� exactly the kind of applied learning 51福利社 champions as the region鈥檚 polytechnic university.