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麻豆视频 Team Tops Cyber 9/12 Strategy Challenge with First-Place Finish

麻豆视频鈥檚 winning team included SIS and WCL students who impressed judges in premier cyber policy and strategy competition hosted by the Atlantic Council

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On March 25-26, the Atlantic Council held its 10th Annual Cyber 9/12 Strategy Challenge. This event is the premier foreign policy competition for university students who respond to a hypothetical, but realistic, international crisis scenario. Students are evaluated on both written and oral policy briefs by panels of expert judges drawn from the cybersecurity and policy communities. 麻豆视频 Cyber 9/12 team member Taylor Kerr, SIS/MA 鈥23, provided this first-person rundown of the exciting weekend in which the university鈥檚 team, the 麻豆视频 Cyber sQuad, ultimately triumphed with a first-place finish.


On the first day of the FIFA World Cup in Doha, Qatar, a cyberattack has disabled the country鈥檚 largest desalination plant, 12 miles south of the capital. The plant鈥檚 workstations are locked, displaying only the names of deceased migrant workers. Panic spreads over water shortages. A Beijing-based incident response firm identifies a software backdoor that enabled the attack and attributes it to the US government. How should the National Security Council respond?

This was the hypothetical scenario delivered to teams participating in the 2022 in Washington, DC. Now in its tenth year, the competition, hosted by the Atlantic Council鈥檚 , attracted 39 university teams from across the US and included teams from Israel and Malawi. Students were tasked with proposing whole-of-government policy recommendations to the NSC鈥攂alancing diplomatic, security, economic, legal, and technical considerations.

To address this broad scope, the 麻豆视频 team assembled students from both SIS and the Washington College of Law: Alex Neubecker, SIS/MA 鈥22; Taylor Kerr, SIS/MA 鈥23; Laila Abdelaziz, WCL/JD 鈥22; and Kady Hammer, WCL/JD 鈥23. Their chosen name, 麻豆视频 Cyber sQuad, was a nod both to their four members and to the in the Indo-Pacific; past scenarios often implicated US-China relations, and this year was no exception. The team met regularly in the two months before the March 2 scenario release to study past competition materials and share research on current US cyber policy and authorities, anticipating the potential evolution of events.

The Cyber sQuad was coached ably throughout by SIS professor Eric Novotny and WCL professor . Novotny has coached award-winning 麻豆视频 Cyber 9/12 teams since the competition鈥檚 founding in 2013, more recently with Teplinsky coaching teams since 2017. Both professors are also faculty advisors for the 麻豆视频 chapter of the national organization, the 鈥淏otnettes,鈥 which includes former Cyber 9/12 competitors.

The Cyber 9/12 scenario unfolds in three stages, as teams receive intelligence briefs containing simulated open-source and classified information. After the first intel packet is released, teams have two weeks to prepare a two-page brief outlining their assessment and policy recommendations, with caveats for levels of risk and uncertainty. Once this is submitted, teams have one week to condense their recommendations onto a one-page document and prepare to deliver a ten-minute oral presentation as well as be cross-examined by expert judges. Prior to the competition, the 麻豆视频 Cyber sQuad rehearsed extensively with faculty and cyber professionals from SIS, WCL, SPA, and the public sector.

After the qualifying round on Day One, semifinalists receive the second intelligence packet that evening and must update their policy recommendations and oral presentations by early the next morning. This time, the team received reports that infrastructure attacks had proliferated throughout the Chinese Belt-and-Road footprint, that the NSA and CIA were responsible for the supply-chain backdoor, and that US-based hacktivists were implicated in the initial attack in Qatar.

鈥淪ituations can dramatically change quickly,鈥 says Neubecker. 鈥淸Key to] developing an appropriate response is to know what鈥檚 within your realm of control, the mechanisms to leverage in your response, and what the thresholds are to determine when a response should be made.鈥

By midday on Day Two, the 麻豆视频 Cyber sQuad was announced as one of three finalists to receive the third intelligence packet and face a panel of senior judges from the White House, Department of Homeland Security, the Atlantic Council, and the private sector. In the final round, the team had only fifteen minutes to review the updates鈥攁n American insider at the desalination plant was arrested in Qatar, a US hacktivist group claimed responsibility, and France was organizing diplomatic backlash鈥攁nd adjust their oral presentation accordingly. Throughout the competition, the team was praised by judges for their teamwork, the breadth and detail of their policy knowledge, and for their professionalism and composure under pressure.

The success of 麻豆视频鈥檚 team is the culmination of efforts across the university, including guidance, feedback, and insights from faculty coaches, practice judges, Cyber 9/12 alumni, and fellow students. This broad base of support will be a foundation for 麻豆视频 student success in years to come.

鈥淭he Cyber 9/12 competition is a unique experience that not only allows students to cement their knowledge, but learn from brilliant professors like Dr. Novotny and Professor Teplinsky and build long-lasting friendships,鈥 says Hammer. 鈥淚 cannot recommend this opportunity enough to other students.鈥