JMU wins eighth annual Virginia Cyber Cup Competition

Six students from JMU’s Cyber Defense Club won the eighth annual Virginia Cyber Cup Competition held Feb. 21–22 at the Virginia Military Institute.

The winning team included Information Technology majors Jake Dinh and Cole Walther, along with Computer Science majors Sophie Colonna, Andrew Shields, Logan Altomonte, and Ray Steen. Computer Science professors Brett Tjaden and Hossain Heydari advised the group, offering mentorship and technical guidance throughout the year.

The competition, part of the larger Commonwealth Cyber Fusion conference, welcomed about 130 students and 30 faculty advisors from 18 colleges and universities in Virginia.

JMU topped the leaderboard in the capture-the-flag challenge, where participants identified security flaws in websites, systems, or programs. Teams then write code or use cybersecurity tools to exploit these weaknesses and uncover hidden “flags,” or keywords that score points. The challenges span categories like reverse engineering, hardware hacking, cryptography and network exploitation, putting a team’s versatility and cohesion to the test.

“Our team dynamic isn't necessarily ‘leader’ and ‘followers,’” Colonna said. “We each have categories we’re good at, and where our skills overlap, we cooperate to solve challenges.”

Steen, the team captain, helped keep everything running behind the scenes. “My role was primarily handling logistics for the team — travel, hotel accommodations — but I also advised our competitors, organized our team strategy, and made sure everyone communicated effectively throughout the competition,” he said.

Teams also met with businesses, learned more about cybersecurity and participated in technology debates.

“Students get hands-on experience with cybersecurity tools and techniques — some of which are not taught in our courses,” Heydari said. “It’s a great way to bridge the gap between classroom learning and real-world applications.”

The team has been invited to a reception with Gov. Glenn Youngkin in Richmond, Virginia, to celebrate their victory.

The Cyber Defense Club is open to all JMU students — regardless of major or experience level — and hosts two weekly meetings. General meetings cover current cyber threats, industry updates and technical workshops, while competition meetings offer hands-on training in system hardening, digital forensics and more.

The club regularly competes in state and national events, including picoCTF (Carnegie Mellon), PatriotCTF (George Mason), MACCDC, ISTS and the NCAE Cyber Games.

JMU alumni David Heishman and Chris Zeigler often lead the competition sessions.