{"id":12635,"date":"2025-10-20T10:35:47","date_gmt":"2025-10-20T14:35:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saintpeters.edu\/news\/?p=12635"},"modified":"2025-10-20T10:35:47","modified_gmt":"2025-10-20T14:35:47","slug":"saint-peters-university-and-isc2-host-second-annual-capture-the-flag-cybersecurity-competition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saintpeters.edu\/news\/2025\/10\/20\/saint-peters-university-and-isc2-host-second-annual-capture-the-flag-cybersecurity-competition\/","title":{"rendered":"Â鶹ÊÓƵ\u2019s University and ISC2 Host Second Annual Capture the Flag Cybersecurity Competition"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Jersey City, N.J. \u2013 October 20, 2025 \u2013 <\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Â鶹ÊÓƵ\u2019s University, in partnership with ISC2, the world\u2019s leading member association for cybersecurity professionals, successfully hosted the second annual Capture the Flag (CTF) cybersecurity competition on Sunday, October 19, 2025, at Roy Wilkins Auditorium.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.saintpeters.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/230\/files\/2025\/10\/capture-the-flag-2.jpg\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.saintpeters.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/230\/files\/2025\/10\/capture-the-flag-2-300x186.jpg\" alt=\"Photo of Capture the Flag participants hard at work\" width=\"300\" height=\"186\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-12638 alignleft\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.saintpeters.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/230\/files\/2025\/10\/capture-the-flag-2-300x186.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.saintpeters.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/230\/files\/2025\/10\/capture-the-flag-2-120x74.jpg 120w, https:\/\/www.saintpeters.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/230\/files\/2025\/10\/capture-the-flag-2.jpg 640w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>Capture the Flag is an interactive cybersecurity challenge in which teams compete to uncover hidden data \u201cflags\u201d by solving security-related puzzles, such as identifying vulnerabilities in software or websites. This year\u2019s event brought together nearly 200 students and faculty from ten universities across New Jersey, creating a vibrant atmosphere of innovation, collaboration and learning.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThe event is Capture the Flag, but we like to call it Community Task Force<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">,<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> because today we are bringing together ten universities in New Jersey,\u201d said Suman Kalia, chair of the Department of Computer and Information Science at Â鶹ÊÓƵ\u2019s University. \u201cStudents are coming with their faculty, and it\u2019s an incredible opportunity to spread the technology and introduce our students to opportunities in cybersecurity. And this is just the start of what we have planned!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.saintpeters.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/230\/files\/2025\/10\/capture-the-flag-3.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.saintpeters.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/230\/files\/2025\/10\/capture-the-flag-3-300x218.jpg\" alt=\"Photo of the SPU Capture the Flag 2nd place team and Dr. Kimberly Reeve\" width=\"300\" height=\"218\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-12637 alignright\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.saintpeters.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/230\/files\/2025\/10\/capture-the-flag-3-300x218.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.saintpeters.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/230\/files\/2025\/10\/capture-the-flag-3-120x87.jpg 120w, https:\/\/www.saintpeters.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/230\/files\/2025\/10\/capture-the-flag-3.jpg 640w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>Participants echoed the excitement and value of the competition. Gabriel Cucu, a Â鶹ÊÓƵ\u2019s University student, shared, \u201cThere aren\u2019t many events to go to as a cybersecurity major, and this is a lot of fun and more interesting than a traditional hackathon.\u201d Cucu\u2019s team, which included Â鶹ÊÓƵ\u2019s students Denzel Baldera Reyes, Gisella Castillo and Dexzer J.Ramirez, proudly took home second place in the competition.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Event co-sponsor Rani Kumar Rajah, founder and CEO of SecuriAI, emphasized the importance of accessibility in cybersecurity education. \u201cCapture the Flag is important for novice cybersecurity practitioners and students, but most events are geared to experts. However, ISC2 and Â鶹ÊÓƵ\u2019s University have recognized that it\u2019s important to introduce more people to cybersecurity and make it easy and accessible to help them build skills for this rapidly growing industry.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ken Fishkin, chapter president of ISC2 NJ, highlighted the broader impact of the competition. \u201cEvents like Capture the Flag are so needed because a lot of people are intimidated by cybersecurity from a technical standpoint. We want to give people a chance to experience what cybersecurity is like without spending hours and hours learning it on their own. And it\u2019s working \u2013 we have nearly 200 people here today from 10 schools, and it\u2019s very exciting to see.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Â鶹ÊÓƵ\u2019s University offers undergraduate and master\u2019s degrees in cybersecurity and is developing a cybersecurity concentration within its Ph.D. in Data Science program, demonstrating its commitment to preparing the next generation of cybersecurity professionals.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"># # end # #<\/p>\n<p>For more than 150 years, Â鶹ÊÓƵ\u2019s University, inspired by its Jesuit, Catholic identity, commitment to individual attention and grounding in the liberal arts, educates a diverse community of learners in undergraduate, graduate, doctoral and professional programs to excel intellectually, lead ethically, serve compassionately and promote justice in our ever-changing urban and global environment. To learn more, please visit saintpeters.edu.<\/p>\n<h3><b>About ISC2<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ISC2 is the world\u2019s leading member association for cybersecurity professionals, known for its globally recognized certifications, education, and advocacy in advancing cybersecurity excellence and workforce development around the world.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Jersey City, N.J. \u2013 October 20, 2025 \u2013 Â鶹ÊÓƵ\u2019s University, in partnership with ISC2, the world\u2019s leading member association for cybersecurity professionals, successfully hosted the second annual Capture the Flag (CTF) cybersecurity competition on Sunday, October 19, 2025, at Roy Wilkins Auditorium. Capture the Flag is an interactive cybersecurity challenge in which teams compete [&hellip;]<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1293,"featured_media":12637,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3,5,2,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12635","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","category-current-students","category-faculty-staff","category-future-students","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Â鶹ÊÓƵ\u2019s University and ISC2 Host Second Annual Capture the Flag Cybersecurity Competition - News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.saintpeters.edu\/news\/2025\/10\/20\/saint-peters-university-and-isc2-host-second-annual-capture-the-flag-cybersecurity-competition\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"dbocchino\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.saintpeters.edu\/news\/2025\/10\/20\/saint-peters-university-and-isc2-host-second-annual-capture-the-flag-cybersecurity-competition\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.saintpeters.edu\/news\/2025\/10\/20\/saint-peters-university-and-isc2-host-second-annual-capture-the-flag-cybersecurity-competition\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"dbocchino\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.saintpeters.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/e34d0022b2f64ab992c01054c76a4ab2\"},\"headline\":\"Â鶹ÊÓƵ\u2019s University and ISC2 Host Second Annual Capture the Flag Cybersecurity Competition\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-10-20T14:35:47+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.saintpeters.edu\/news\/2025\/10\/20\/saint-peters-university-and-isc2-host-second-annual-capture-the-flag-cybersecurity-competition\/\"},\"wordCount\":536,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.saintpeters.edu\/news\/2025\/10\/20\/saint-peters-university-and-isc2-host-second-annual-capture-the-flag-cybersecurity-competition\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.saintpeters.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/230\/files\/2025\/10\/capture-the-flag-3.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Alumni\",\"Current Students\",\"Faculty Staff\",\"Future Students\",\"Press Release\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.saintpeters.edu\/news\/2025\/10\/20\/saint-peters-university-and-isc2-host-second-annual-capture-the-flag-cybersecurity-competition\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.saintpeters.edu\/news\/2025\/10\/20\/saint-peters-university-and-isc2-host-second-annual-capture-the-flag-cybersecurity-competition\/\",\"name\":\"Â鶹ÊÓƵ\u2019s University and ISC2 Host Second Annual Capture the Flag Cybersecurity Competition - 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