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A group of �������� cybersecurity and computer science majors is the best in the state at responding to a simulated attack.

That’s according to the results of the Digital Forensic and Incident Response Capture the Flag event, which was hosted by the nonprofit CyberTrust Massachusetts in partnership with Immersive Labs.

The victorious teammates attribute their success to their experiences as Bridgewater State students.

“I wouldn’t be at the same point where I am in my professional career if it wasn’t for Bridgewater,” said team member and recent �������� graduate Tommy Rose. “Not only am I getting a bachelor's degree, I’m also walking out with three years of professional IT and security experience.”

That combination of classroom and hands-on knowledge proved helpful in the four-hour competition where teams were challenged to identify and follow mock cyberattacks as well as correctly answer a series of questions.

The group, which also included Brian Grier, Carsten Boloz and Olek Lysyi, excelled by answering every question with time to spare and completing the event with greater accuracy than their competitors, said coach Dave Marion, ’06, G’13, who is also ��������’s director of information security.

“Calling this impressive is an understatement,” Marion said. “Security analysts working in major enterprises would find this challenging. ... Any company or department would be lucky to have these students working for them.”

The team met regularly in the weeks leading up to the competition and developed close connections that proved invaluable.

“We are very good at communication,” said Olek, who just completed his first year as a cybersecurity student. “There were a lot of questions where we were relying on each other.”

Originally from Ukraine, Olek now lives in Brighton and came to �������� at the recommendation of friends. He knows he made the right decision because of opportunities like the cybersecurity contest.

“The best part of the competition more than it being a fun event, is it’s really good experience to put on my resume,” Tommy said.

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