CPTC 2020

Background

In the Collegiate Penetration Testing Competition, student teams act as security consultants. They must prepare a proposal offering penetration testing services, sell it to the client, find and exploit vulnerabilities on the network, prepare a report with their findings, and present it to a panel of executives. To succeed, they need technical and communications skills, and to comport themselves in a professional manner. They are scored by the degree to which they satisfy the expectations of the client.

The competition closely mimics the activites of professional penetration testers. That means that preparing for the competition prepares students to get jobs, and success in the competition demonstrates that they are ready for employment as security professionals.

Western Regional CPTC

The Western Regional CPTC was held on October 24 and 25, 2020.

Nine teams competed:

CCSF Won First Place

This was the official announcement:

Here were the top three teams:

Meet the CCSF Team

Eli Wald (Captain)

Hi! My name is Eli. I was born and raised in San Francisco and I am so proud to represent City College with this team of cyber geniuses. I came to City College to start studying computer science a few years ago and came in contact with the Cybersecurity program shortly after. I love studying computer networks and operating systems and how to break into them, and I love that the our team gives me an opportunity to practice so many different aspects of IT and CS as well as writing and management. Most of all I enjoy seeing how much we all learn from each other as a team! Outside of school and work I enjoy playing and listening to music, walking around the city, and reading as much as I can.

Twitter: @DifficultHell · LinkedIn

Dante Alabastro (Co-Captain)

Hello, my name is Dante! I first enrolled at CCSF in 2017 and after taking nearly every cybersecurity course, I have received my CompTIA Security+ certification and an associate's degree in Network Security. It's been an honor running with the Collegiate Cybersecurity Team for a second year and I am very excited to have the opportunity to compete at an international level! Before starting my formal education in CNIT, I danced as a professional ballet dancer and trained with some of the leading ballet companies in the world. I've had the opportunity to perform at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. and in Beijing, China as an ambassador of American Ballet. I'm always keen on new challenges and learning more!

Twitter: @dantealabastro · Website

Zoey Garvey

My name is Zoey. I have some history as a web developer, but after some exposure to infosec I found that I had a passion for it. A short time later I met a few women from the CCSF competition team at a conference, and the following semester I was taking classes at CCSF with the long term goal of finding a full time position in infosec. I spend my free time playing with my cats, gaming, playing soccer, and cooking.

Twitter: @53c0nd_2473 · LinkedIn · Github

Stepan Sgnibev

My name is Stepan. I originally started taking classes at CCSF to learn more about Linux and Systems Administration. After a short while, I realized that the cybersecurity program is one of the best ways to learn about many IT aspects because it touches on almost every single one. One of my instructors invited me to the CPTC team, and I joined it to have fun and test my skills.

Twitter: @kotek_ssg · LinkedIn

Taras Veratsennik

Hi, my name is Taras and originally I am from Belarus. I entered Cybersecurity program at CCSF about a year ago and never thought that breaking into computer systems could be so much fun(people say you can even get paid, legally)! Infosec community is big and extremely helpful, and there is a ton of free resources to learn and practice(such as samsclass). When the sun is shining I enjoy snowboarding, mountain biking, kayaking and playing video games.

Twitter: @TarikGomel · LinkedIn

Stuart Wong

Hi! I'm Stuart! I got my undergraduate degree in networking and switching but then decided to pursue a passion in hair styling, I was successful and had my own business. I decided to take classes at CCSF in my free time. Once the pandemic hit I had more time to devote to classes so I decided to dive into cybersecurity. I joined the CPTC team with the intention of learning as much as possible as fast as possible.

Twitter: @WongStuart · LinkedIn · Github

Updated: 11-1-20 12:031 pm