HCC’s cyber student team places in top 10 percent at National Cyber League Competition
Jun 14, 2023
Students meet to strategize for the league's cyber security competition.
Houston Community College (HCC) cybersecurity students placed in the top 10 percent of competitors at the spring National Cyber League competition against 7,800 students from 450 universities and colleges across the U.S.
The HCC student team placed in the top 10 percent of finishers, ahead of student teams from Purdue University and the University of California San Diego.
The league hosts two seasonal competitions annually. In the events, students compete by simultaneously playing games that test their skills in individual and team challenges that mimic scenarios they may face in the workforce. Challenges include identifying hackers from forensic data, penetration testing, auditing vulnerable websites and recovering from ransomware attacks.
“It was a great experience for us,” said student Hira Ali, who served as vice president of the HCC Cyber Security Club before graduating this year. “It presented us, as teammates, with the opportunity to venture beyond our comfort zones and delve into unfamiliar concepts. Instead of opting for the easier path of focusing on our existing knowledge, our team expanded our learning beyond the confines of the classroom.”
In fact, Ali said she ate almost nothing and slept little for a week, devoting herself entirely to the effort. “My brain was constantly thinking that maybe I should try this or that,” the mother of two and former Islamic studies teacher explained. “I was totally immersed in the competition.”
Ali is now moving on to pursue a four-year degree in the cyber security realm and will study online through Dakota State University in Madison, South Dakota.
Cyber security jobs are in huge demand, with more than 660,000 openings in the sector across the U.S. according to Cyberseek.org, said Samir Saber, dean of HCC’s Digital, and Information Technology Center of Excellence.
“That includes about 57,878 jobs in Texas alone,” Saber said.
The median salary for Information Security Analysts in the Houston, Woodlands and Sugar Land region is roughly $101,000, according to Lightcast, a labor market data analysis firm.
“Our goal is to empower our students with the knowledge and tools they need to succeed as leaders in information technology, including the fast growing and in-demand areas of cyber security and artificial intelligence,” said Dr. Madeline Burillo-Hopkins, president of HCC Southwest College and vice chancellor of workforce. “Again and again, we find that our students perform exceptionally well when compared to those from colleges and universities across the nation.”