On May 27, Garden State Cyber and the NJCCIC hosted the second annual Garden State CTF Finals and Summit at The College of New Jersey (TCNJ). Over 1,700 students, 500 teams, and 86 schools from around New Jersey competed in the capture the flag (CTF) competition this year, an increase of approximately 39 percent from last year. The 10 top scoring teams of high school students from the CTF competed in the finals.

The CTF finals comprised of a live fire exercise in which teams responded to a simulated real-world cyber incident scenario. The following teams placed first, second, and third in the finals:

First Place | Ctrl+Alt+Defeaters | Pascack Hills High School
Second Place | Mojo Dojo Casa House | Bridgewater-Raritan High School
Third Place | KyteBytes | Freehold High School

While the students competed, teachers from around the state participated in the summit, comprised of multiple breakout room sessions focused on teaching cybersecurity and building a community of support. These teachers’ efforts help to not only teach students about cybersecurity but also encourage them to pursue careers in the cybersecurity field.

In attendance was the Director of the NJ Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness (NJOHSP) Tom Hauck, New Jersey’s Chief Technology Officer Kevin Dehmer, and Director of the NJCCIC and State Chief Information Security Officer Mike Geraghty. A special thank you to the team at Garden State Cyber for all their hard work and TCNJ for hosting!

Congratulations to all the winners and participants!