The computer science team will participate in the first round of the CyberPatriot competition on Nov. 3.

CyberPatriot is a cybersecurity competition put together by the Air Force Association to promote students interested in the field of cybersecurity. In the competition, students undergo a series of scenarios they could encounter while working in the field. This includes systems having vulnerabilities or being hacked that competitors have to find and fix.

“They gain points for each vulnerability that they fix, and if they find them all, they will get the maximum score,” computer science teacher Jared Stites said. “They are sent multiple images all with different vulnerabilities and operating systems like Windows, Linux and Cisco with different versions on top of that. Our students have to work cohesively in teams of five and they will break down into specialists, each managing a different operating system.”

There are two rounds, and the points are tallied to determine which tier – Silver, Gold or Platinum – each team will compete in. The top teams in the Platinum tier will advance to the national round and students will be flown to Baltimore to compete.

“This is our first year competing, so I don’t really know what it is going to look like,” Stites said. “But from the practice rounds we have done, the students have done an outstanding job getting nearly all possible points. I’m confident. They’ll do well.”