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The University of New Haven announced today that it will host the New England regional of the . Seven schools, including a team of students from the University of New Haven, will engage in a rigorous penetration testing competition and write a report that will be evaluated by experts and professionals in the field.

The competition will take place October 11 to 13. The winners of the six regional competitions – including one that will take place in Dubai – and the four highest ranked at-large teams will advance to the final round of the international competition next month at the Rochester Institute of Technology.

"This is an excellent opportunity for the University to showcase our talented and hard-working students and to raise awareness of our standing as a leader in cybersecurity, digital forensics, and computer science education and research," said Ibrahim "Abe" Baggili, Elder Family Endowed Chair of Cybersecurity and Computer Science and assistant dean of the University's Tagliatela College of Engineering.

Earlier this year, the University of New Haven was designated by the National Security Agency (NSA) as a Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Operations. The distinction has been earned by only 21 colleges and universities across the Unites States. The university is also the only recipient in the state of Connecticut of a $4 million National Science Foundation grant as part of the CyberCorps® Scholarship for Service program to help educate future cybersecurity professionals to enter the governmental workforce.

Opportunities such as the CPTC provide students with a realistic experience that enables them to apply what they have learned in the classroom and to prepare them for their careers. In 2017, at the CPTC, the University defeated teams from Penn State, Drexel, the University of Buffalo, and Carnegie Mellon, which are all among the top universities worldwide in cybersecurity and technology education.

"This is an excellent opportunity ... to showcase our talented and hard-working students and to raise awareness of our standing as a leader in cybersecurity, digital forensics, and computer science education and research"Ibrahim "Abe" Baggili, Elder Family Endowed Chair of Cybersecurity and Computer Science

"Our students are bright, passionate, and determined," said Baggili. "They have excelled at regional and national competitions, defeating schools with enrollments in cybersecurity up to five times larger than ours. We are excited for the opportunity to demonstrate our skills as we host what promises to be a spirited competition."

The University will host teams from the University of Maine, the University of New Hampshire, the United States Military Academy, Rochester Institute of Technology, Drexel University, and the University of Texas at Austin. More than 50 students are expected to take part.

As part of the competition, teams will perform a penetration test on a fictional bank that, as part of the simulation, has been a leader in introducing new banking innovations. A recent security analysis has shown several vulnerabilities. Resolving these issues is critical to ensuring the ongoing viability of the bank.

Each member of the top three teams in the competition will be offered half-tuition scholarships to pursue a master's degree in Cybersecurity & Networks at the University of New Haven. "Students are competing not only to go to the final round of this prestigious international competition, but also to earn highly sought after scholarships to further their education and research."

On the first day of the competition, participants will enjoy a social event featuring a New Haven pizza truck, an arcade truck, and a virtual reality gaming truck, before getting to work.

The University of New Haven is the diamond sponsor for this year's CPTC New England regional, which is also being supported by IBM, the MITRE Corp., and Marcum LLP.