Cybersecurity isn’t always a battle. For a BYU team at the recent Cyber 9/12 Strategy Challenge, it was more of a puzzle. Cyber Strategy competitions present participants with complex national-security-focused cyber scenarios that they must solve using knowledge of government protocol and past real-world incidents.
Although BYU has competed in these competitions before, this year's team of four—captained by Kendel Woodburn—was new to the experience. Before competing in Monterey, California, they practiced building case recommendations for how to handle hypothetical scenarios. They studied past cybersecurity breaches and relied on advice from former BYU competitor Will Hartman.
This year’s team, coached by Jay Snell, was made up of three cybersecurity students: Kendel Woodburn, Emmie Hall, and Isaac Andersen, along with one political science student, Olivia Mossman. The variety of knowledge bases helped the team differentiate roles. As they created plans to address the scenarios, they drew on each other’s strengths—whether that meant expertise in government policy, international relations, compliance, or technical applications. Woodburn herself enjoys the intersection of policy and cybersecurity, something she attributes to her past experience at a government internship in Virginia. “I think that's why I was more drawn to this than maybe other competitions,” she said.
Time pressure was a major element of the competition, with participants given only hours—and in the final round, mere minutes—to provide their recommendations. “We got really good at working under pressure in a short time period,” Woodburn shared. Team members quickly learned when to step back and let someone else lead based on their specific strengths.
Their preparation paid off: BYU’s team placed second in the final round. Woodburn looks forward to future competitions, and the team hopes to compete in Washington, D.C., this spring.
