Andrew Wilhelm helps Baldwin Wallace Cyber Defense Team win National Cyber League competition

2018 Jan 23

Andrew Wilhelm of Brooklyn was on the Baldwin Wallace University Cyber Defense Team that outranked 174 teams nationally across all brackets for the number one spot in the National Cyber League (NCL) 2017 Fall Season competition. In addition to the team win, Ian Walton, a software engineering major from Berea, Ohio, notched a third-place finish overall in the NCL Regular Season individual competition with 2,423 participants.

The NCL is a computer/network security competition that challenges participants to crack encryption, analyze network security, break into websites and much more. Wilhelm, a graduate of Waters Edge Academy majoring in computer network security, grappled with a series of complex tasks and challenges during the intense weekend competition which started on a Friday at noon and ended Sunday at 9 p.m.

BW faculty advisor Kenneth Atchinson reports, "I monitored the chatroom and found them working most of the night and even into the early morning on problems. Needless to say, they worked really hard and put in lots of hours on solving the problems. They worked on problems best suited to their talents, and worked as a team, educating each other on the best methods and approaches."

Team captain Meredith Kasper, a computer network security major from Parma, Ohio, noted, "One of our greatest moments was the last 10 minutes[when] we were scrambling to get five more points. We submitted answers between 8:57 and 8:59. Luckily, they were correct and we saw our team move into first place. I could not be prouder of my team if I tried after the amazing teamwork everyone displayed throughout the weekend."

BW's previous best finish, in spring 2017, was fifth place overall and first place in the silver bracket.