LOYOLA BLAKEFIELD CYBER SECURITY
WINTER 2024-2025 NEWSLETTER
Foreword
ThiswinterforLBCSIhasseenalotofactionandpreparation,withthe2024 CyberSecurityHallofFameDinner,the8thannualrunningofLBC2comingup,ateam trainingforCyberPatriotNationalFinals,NCFʼsCyberSaturday,andevensocialmedia presentations.WeʼreexcitedtosharewhatLBCSIhasbeenuptothiswinter,and everythingthatʼscomingupnext!
2024CyberSecurityHallofFameDinner
OnDecember5th,agroupofstudents(Will Coyneʻ25,EmmettOmronʻ25,JamesWilliamsʻ25, KaiCookeʻ26,ConnorCounselmanʻ26,Patrick Dishonʻ26,NathanPorterʻ27,MaxMayfieldʻ28, andBraydenStreetsʻ28)andMr.Morrillattended theCyberSecurityHallofFameDinner,a ceremonycommemoratingtrailblazersinthefield ofcybersecurity.Thisyearʼshonoreesincluded: AdmiralMikeRogers,EdnaConway,PaulNielsen, JamesRoskind, AlanPaller,aswellasRobertand HeatherRodriguez.Eachinducteehasplayeda pivotalroleinshapingthegloballandscapeof computerscienceandcybersecurity.Loyola BlakefieldʼsCyberScienceprogramhadthehonor toserveastheeventʼscharitablepartner,being recognizedforoveradecadeofachievement.Thisincrediblepartnershipfurther cementsLBCSIasthegloballeaderincybersecurityeducation.
WewouldliketothankLarryLetow, RickGeritz'82, andallofthemembersof theCyberSecurityHallofFameforinviting ustoattendtheeventanddesignating LoyolaBlakefieldʼsCyberScienceprogram asthebeneficiaryfortheevening.
AirForceAssociationʼsCyberPatriotCompetition
TheAFACyberPatriotCompetitionisthelargest youthcyberdefensecompetitioninthenation,with wellover2000highschoolteamsofaround4-6 students.LBCSIisproudtoannouncewehaveswept boththehighschoolandmiddleschoolinthe CyberPatriot stateroundpodium,andaresendinga teamtonationalfinalsinMarch!(Top12inthenation) Ournationalfinalsteam,teamAxios,consistedofBilly Nicholsonʻ26,EmmettOmronʻ25,ConnorCounselman ʻ26,MatthewKocorowskiʻ26,PatrickDishonʻ26,andCaseyNazelrodʻ25.(Picturedle torightabove).Our1stplacehighschoolstateawardteam,teamGrucket,consistedof RyanMartinʻ28,WillCoyneʻ25,NicholasFantoʻ25,AlexBowieʻ25,DimitriKokkinakos ʻ25,andSpencerDavisʻ25(Picturedle torightbelow).Our1stplacemiddleschool stateawardteamconsistedofEthanBalubarʻ29,WillMascariʻ29,AlexNicolaidisʻ29, EthanRohrbachʻ30,AustinPitarraʻ29,andJohnTalley ʻ30.LBCSIhad93studentsspreadoutintofi eenteams competinginCyberPatriotthisyear,withtwofemale studentsjoiningfromNotreDamePreparatorySchoolas well.Wewouldliketothankthethreestudenttraining leadswhotirelesslyworkedhardtoprepareallofthese studentsforthethreeareasofcompetition:Billy NicholsoninCisco,DimitriKokkinakosinWindows,and MatthewKocorowskiinLinux.LBCSIwouldnothavehad suchasuccessfulseasonwithouttheirdiligenteffort.
Term2Activities
WiththeconclusionofCyberPatriotformostofLBCSI, wehaveshi edintoseveraldifferentclassesmemberscan pursueforthesecondsemester.Wehave3different CompTIAcertificationclasses:A+taughtbyITstaffMr.Edmons Mr.Morrill,andSecurity+taughtbyWillCoyneʻ25andMr.Morr beofferedbyMatthewKocorowskiʻ26,tointroducestudentstocapturetheflag-based competitionsinpreparationforLBC2.AServerandNetworkHardware101coursewill beofferedbyMr.Morrill,toprepareforauniqueserviceopportunitytosetupa networkinMicronesiaforalocalhighschool.Mr.AndyFloodisofferingaBiometrics class,wheremembersgetachancetobehands-onwithdeviceshehasdesigned, understandhowtheywork,andhowthedatatheycollectissecured.Finally,aWeb DevelopmentclassisofferedbyCaseyNazelrodʻ25, wherestudentslearnfull-stackwebdevelopment.
LANParty
OnDecember21st,LBCSIcelebratedtheLAN Party,wherecurrentandformermembersoftheLBCSI programgottogetherforfoodandbondingasa community.Newmembersoftheprogramhadthe chancetoconnectwithalumni,furtheringthe brotherhoodoverthe13yearsoftheprogram.
GuestSpeakerSeries
OnFebruary28th,EvanDorbushreturnedtoLoyolaBlakefieldtogiveanother guestspeakertalk.Evanhasbuiltandsoldmanycybersecuritycompaniesoverthe years,andalsorunsacybersecuritypodcastcalledHackersonTheRocks.Thetopic wasaboutthetop10mostrecenthacksfrom thepreviousyear,focusingoncurrentevents andbigbreaches,howtheyhappened,and theramificationofthoseattacks.The attendeesenjoyedhispresentationandhad manyinsightfulquestions.
Inthecomingmonths,ourguestspeakerserieswillhosttheCISOofJohn HopkinsUniversity,JanetRathod,onMarch6th,aswellasGeneralNovotnyoftheU.S. AirForceonApril9th.Wearethrilledtohostthesespeakersandlookforwardtotheir talks.
OnWednesday,January29th,WillCoyneʻ25andRyan Wachterʻ26fromLBCSIʼsFieldOperationsvisitedStUrsulaʼs CatholicSchooltodeliverasocialmediapresentation.They presentedtotwodifferentgroups;theschoolʼs4thand5th gradeclasses,andthemiddleschool.Thepresentation includedtopicssuchaspasswordsecurity,onlinesafetyacross differentplatforms,andbeingmindfulofwhatinfoyoushare online.Whilethestudentsgainedalotofknowledgeandasked
StUrsulaSocialMediaPresentation
manyinsightfulquestions,LBCSIalsolearnedfromthemabouthowtheyusethe internetthemselves.
Ifyouknowaschoolthatwouldbenefitfromadigitalawarenesspresentation, pleasereachouttoMr.StephenMorrill(smorrill@loyolablakefield.org)ortotheField Operations(wccoyne2025@loyolablakefield.organdrcwachter2026@loyolablakefield.org). Wewouldlovetopresentatmoreschoolsandmeetnewstudents!
CyberSaturdayatTAC
OnJanuary18,theLeadershipTeamofLBCSItraveledtotheTechnology AdvancementCenter(TAC)inColumbiatohelpoutduringtheirCyberSaturdayevent incollaborationwiththeNationalCryptologicFoundation.CyberSaturdayisanevent for5ththrough8thgradestudentsfeaturingevents suchasaCTFcompetition,acybersecurityescape room,andmuchmore.Whilewewerethere,LBCSIʼs ProductDevelopmentteam,CaseyNazelrodʻ25and EmmettOmronʻ25appearedontheNCFʼsCyberChats podcastalongwithAlexisDavis,theCOOatTAC,to talkaboutyouthcybereducationeventslikeCyber SaturdayandLBC2.TolearnmoreabouttheNational CryptologicFoundationandtolistentothepodcast, pleasevisittheirwebsiteat https://cryptologicfoundation.org/.
LBC2
The8theditionofLBC2willbecomingto LoyolaBlakefieldonMarch29,2025,from9AM-3PM. LBC2isaCapturetheFlag(CTF)-styleeventbuilt completelybystudentmembersofLBCSI.Theentireday grades8-12,withacomplimentarybreakfastandlunchb divisions:beginner,adivisionforthosenewtoCTFcompetitions,andadvanced,a divisionforthemoreexperiencedcompetitors.LBC2willfeaturethereturnofIoTCity, atownbuiltbyEmmettOmronʻ25andCaseyNazelrodʻ25thatisdesignedtoreplicate realworldcybersecuritydevicesinasafe-to-useenvironment.Thankstothe generosityoftheNationalCryptologicFoundation,itwillalsofeaturethesameescape roomseenatCyberSaturday.Ifyouorsomeoneyouknowisinterestedincompeting inLBC2,visithttps://lbc2.org/formoreinfoaboutthecompetition.Pleasereachout tolbc2staff@gmail.comwithanyquestions,weʼdloveforyoutoreachout!
QuHacksHackathon
OnDecember14th,Will Coyneʻ25,MatthewKocorowski ʻ26,andDimitriKokkinakosʻ25 participatedinQuHacks2025,a day-longhackathonatJohns HopkinsAPL.Theteamfounded Cert-Breeze,awebapplicationto helpstudyingforcybersecurity certifications.
SponsorThankYou
AcontinuedthankyougoestotheEdwardSt.JohnFoundationPresident,Ms. SharonAkers.Weappreciatethecontinuedinterestinthedevelopmentofourcyber students,andwelookforwardtocontinuingourworkwiththesesponsorsinthe future.
Thankyouallfortakingthetimetoreadthisyearʼs 2024-2025WinterNewsletter!Yourcontinuedinterest andsupportiswhatmakesoureffortspossible.As always,RollDonsRoll!
Wehopeyouarealldoingwellandarehavingagreat winter.
Thanksagain, WillCoyneʻ25, RyanWachterʻ26, Mr.StephenMorrill, TheentiretyofLoyolaBlakefieldʼsCyberScienceInitiative
