Northeastern University's Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition Team

What is CCDC?

The Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition is an annual red-team vs. blue-team competition between colleges and universities in the United States.

The competition is split into various regions across the US, and our team is part of the Northeast region.

Tryouts

NUCCDC applications for the 2024-2025 season are now open! We are in need of students who are interested in competing with us.

The competition is a cyber defense competition where teams try to maintain a functional corporate network while keeping the network safe from active attackers. In training for the competition, you will learn important Windows administration, Linux administration, networking, and cybersecurity skills that will be useful for your career.

The tryout process involves performing a list of tasks on a virtual machine (VM) that we have provided. There are two VMs: a Windows VM and a Linux VM. You are required to choose only one to complete, but you are free to complete and submit answers for both. For your answers to the tasks, please detail all the steps that you took to arrive to your solution and include screenshots as well. In addition to the tasks, we ask you to briefly describe why you are interested in joining the team. Finally, there is an optional bonus challenge that you can solve as well.

The VMs, bonus challenge, and the instructions can be found here.

Once completed, email a copy of your write up to [email protected]. If you have any questions about the tasks, tryouts, or anything CCDC related, feel free to email us at that address as well. We will let you know whether you have been accepted or not approximately a week or two after the applications close.

We encourage everyone (both undergraduate and graduate students) to try the tasks. Knowing how to Google and being persistent are the keys to success. The tryout itself is an excellent learning opportunity. Don’t worry if you can’t complete all the tasks; just do your best!

Good luck!

Application due date: Sunday, October 20, 2024

Events

NUCCDC invites you to compete in Hivestorm, a virtual cyber defense competition run by the University of Texas San Antonio where competitors secure Windows and Linux machines by removing malware, fixing misconfigurations, and mitigating vulnerabilities. This competition is great for all abilities! You do not have to apply to be on the NUCCDC team to participate in this competition. All you need are some friends who are interested in cyber!

To participate in the competition (and to see all the nitty gritty details), fill out this form by Saturday, September 28, 11:59 pm: https://forms.gle/6yhRVzqKkxT4VFzRA.

The Team

Our team consists of students from many diverse backgrounds and fields of expertise.

Incoming Members

Members currently in training to compete next season.

Alumni

Previous team members, captains, and coaches.

How do I join?

We’re glad you’re interested in joining the team!

We have an annual tryout process which takes place between the end of September and early November. The CCDC competition starts early in the spring semester. Everyone is welcome to try out – graduates and undergraduates, as well as international students.

You can obtain more information regarding CCDC (including tryouts) by joining our mailing list or sending us an email at [email protected].