NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. - Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Atlantic held the 12th annual Palmetto Cyber Defense Competition (PCDC) April 12-14 at Trident Technical with the goal of enhancing cybersecurity skills for students and professionals through science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

The three-day event, which was coordinated in collaboration with the South Carolina Lowcountry Chapter of the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association (AFCEA), hosted more than 180 high schoolers, college students and industry professionals.

Each day, competitors formed "blue teams" acting as city systems operators. The cities, represented in 3D models, were connected to a network simulating critical infrastructure such as power grids, water systems, hospitals, and city government. "Red team" hackers then attacked the networks to help stress a city’s defenses and identify where vulnerabilities existed.

“We wanted to bring some realism to this year’s competition with a very cyber physical approach and have each team defend their own city,” said Scott Bell, NIWC Atlantic Battlespace Awareness Division cyber lead and PCDC director. “This is a real possibility in today’s world.”

Ten colleges, 10 high schools, and six professional teams competed, assisted by about 100 volunteers from NIWC Atlantic, AFCEA and corporate partners. Teams received scenarios and preparation time for each competition: 90 minutes for high schools, 45 minutes for colleges, and 30 minutes for professionals.

“We were invited since we placed Top 5 for Magnet Cyber Patriots. It was my first time being here,” said Jalen Heyward a senior at Military Magnet School and future University of South Carolina cybersecurity student. “We came here and thought we were 100% prepared, but it wasn’t something we were used to. Most of this stuff is new to us, but we didn’t crack under pressure. This has been an eye-opener.” 

The Home School STEM team won the high school competition for the first time. Other high school competitors included Ashley Ridge, Clover, Aiken Scholar’s Academy, Cane Bay, CTE Innovation Center Teams one and two, Academic Magnet, Military Magnet Academy and Academy for the Arts, Science & Technology.

The Citadel won the college competition, with other college competitors including Clemson, University of South Carolina, Charleston Southern University, Trident Tech College, U.S. Naval Academy, Horry Georgetown Technical College, University of North Carolina Wilmington, ECPI University and College of Charleston with Coastal Carolina University and Voorhees University observing.

“We hope to see them compete next year,” said Bell.

Just like the high school competition, the college challenge opened some eyes as well.

“I’m here to learn from my upperclassmen how this competition works,” said Midshipmen Sean Harres, a first-year student at the U.S. Naval Academy. “We were tasked with defending our network from outside hackers. That network was supplying water, sewage, internet access for the city. Our goal was to keep the city running for as long as possible.”

PCDC also hosted the Southeast Region Collegiate Hack Warz® competition concurrently with the high school competition. The University of South Carolina team won the capture-the-flag hacking competition.
According to Bell, NIWC Atlantic and its industry partners also utilize PCDC to identify upcoming local cybersecurity talent. Over the previous 11 years of competition, NIWC Atlantic has hired 27 PCDC participants. This year the NIWC team identified several students with great hiring potential and solicited resumes from them at the event. Many of the past competitors who have accepted positions with NIWC Atlantic now also support the PCDC competition to encourage new professionals to consider working in support of the Navy’s mission.

“It is very cool to see the other side of things,” said Dalton Hazelwood, a NIWC Atlantic intern and Citadel graduate Student. “I participated the last two years as a competitor. This is my first year on the other side of the fence and I have a better understanding of things because I get to see the full picture this year.”

On the last day, the professionals battled it out with Naval Information Warfare Systems Command (NAVWAR) Reserve Program Cybersecurity Pillar taking the win. Other teams included Scientific Research Corporation, BAE Systems, Dominion Energy, the U.S. National Cyber Team, the U.S. National Women’s Cyber Team and the South Carolina National Guard.

NIWC Atlantic’s Chief Engineer, Erick Fry spoke about the importance of the competition and the collaboration.

“PCDC builds the network of key partners across academia, military, contractors, and government subject matter experts,” he said. “It also offers a fun forum to develop cybersecurity skills using real-world simulations and demonstrates to the community how cybersecurity careers apply directly to national security.”