Illinois teams win in Cyber 9/12 challenges: A competition of CS, policy, and teamwork

As the world of computer science continues to expand, so does the spectrum of career paths available to its graduates. A number of our Illinois Grainger College of Engineering Siebel School of Computing and Data Science students were introduced to an emerging field especially pertinent to modern computing – cyber incident response – when they were given an opportunity to participate in three of the Atlantic Council’s Cyber 9/12 Challenges over the Spring 2024 semester.

In each national-level Challenge, competitors are given a scenario detailing a fictional major cybersecurity incident, and tasked with putting together a presentation detailing a viable government response.

In January, the Challenge was held in Austin and focused on geo politically-motivated cyberattacks on semiconductor manufacturing capabilities. The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign teams comprised Sarena Yang, Joshua Moore, Tony Leapo, Harry Wang, Piotr Biel, Abhived Pulapaka, Aayush Desai, and Ashika Koripelly, who took home second place, and the Best Written Policy Brief award.

In March, the Challenge was held in hybrid format in DC, and focused on the role of technology in US border security. The team, who competed remotely, comprised Joshua Moore, Abhived Pulapaka, Harry Wang, and Sarena Yang, who took home third place.

In May, the Challenge was held in New York, and focused specifically on social media platform trust and safety and its societal implications. The team, comprising Joshua Moore, Abhived Pulapaka, Harry Wang, and Kylie Zhang, took home second place and the Best Teamwork award.

The students heard about the competition through an experimental course, CS 498, taught by computer science professor Ryan Cunningham, concentrating on CS-related issues in law and policy. “He introduced the challenge to us during one of the lectures, and said that whoever was interested should come down and talk to him about it after class,” said Harry Wang.

Preparation for the first round of the competition starts weeks in advance. “Two to three weeks before the competition, we submit a written policy brief, which is our primary response to the initial intelligence report,” explained Wang.

“There’s multiple stages where we get updated information and have increasingly less time to come up with recommendations for actions to take,” explained Joshua Moore.

In the second round, half of the teams have been eliminated, and remaining teams are given less than 24 hours to produce a response to the new information. In the third round, only three teams remain, and each is given 15 minutes to come up with a response and present it without any visual aids. Stakes are high, and participants are required to think on their feet.

The group expressed how much teamwork can make or break their performance. “The most important thing about Cyber 9/12 is the ability to work together as a team,” said Abhived Pulapaka. “Because we’re thinking on the fly, especially come question time, having your teammates’ backs and being able to complement each other properly was the most necessary part to our success.”

“Even though we split up the work based on specialty, it really doesn’t come together unless everyone is at least somewhat well-versed in the entirety of the scenario and each category as a whole,” said Sarena Yang.

The competition not only brought together brilliant minds, but also opened their eyes to the world of possibilities that computer science has to offer. “I knew coming into college, I thought there was only really one path which was big tech, but ever since doing this competition I’ve found so many different career paths,” said Yang. 

Each competition forged unforgettable memories for all participants. “This competition is very fun,” said Pulapaka. “We get to travel together, we work together for hours, and there’s this hysteria and nerves that you go through together as a team.”

For those contemplating participating in Cyber 9/12 or any similar competition, the team recommends taking the chance while you have it. “It's really incredible. Even if you’re slightly interested, just do it,” said Yang.

And for those wanting to explore the field of law and policy within computer science, there are other opportunities outside of Cyber 9/12 that cover these topics. “We recommend that people join SIGPolicy in ACM, or take Ryan Cunningham’s law and policy class,” said Moore. “Those are the two greatest places to start.”