DePaul University Athletics
Kuzmenkova Wins Cybersecurity National Championship
11/16/2020 12:37:00 PM | WOMEN'S TENNIS
DePaul senior aces the nationwide field in US Cyber Challenge
CHICAGO – Alina Kuzmenkova never imagined in her wildest dreams that completing a little extra credit would lead to a national championship.
Right in the middle of her cybersecurity class (Fundamentals of Network Security) last spring, professor Rami Salahieh invited his students to take the US Cyber Challenge Cyber Quest and earn some bonus points.
Kuzmenkova, who was born in Russia and has lived in Croatia, Spain, Pennsylvania and Florida, jumped at the opportunity. After all, this is a Blue Demon women's tennis player whose entire team is so embedded in academics that they recorded a perfect 4.0 team GPA last spring.
Why settle for an "A" when an A+ is available?
Cyber Quests are a series of fun but challenging on-line competitions allowing participants to demonstrate their knowledge in a variety of information security realms. Each quest features an artifact for analysis along with a series of quiz questions.
Some quests focus on a potentially vulnerable sample web server as the artifact, challenging participants to identify its flaws using vulnerability analysis skills. Other quests include forensic analysis and packet capture analysis.
"To be honest, when I was registering for the quest, I didn't think that I would be invited to the US Cyber
Camp (regional round), Kuzmenkova said. "I just did this quest for fun and as extra credit for my class. After submitting the answers, my username appeared in the 35th position on the list of top participants.
"I knew that the top scorers would be invited to the one-week Cyber Camp during the summer. I couldn't believe that it was actually going to happen until weeks later when I received this email:"
As a result of your participation in the Cyber Quest Competition, the Center for Internet Security (CIS) and the US Cyber Challenge in partnership with Moraine Valley Community College and the Center for Systems Security and Information Assurance (CSSIA) would like to invite you to participate in the
first USCC Virtual Cyber Camp from July 6 through July 10, 2020.
The cyber camp is part of the US Cyber Challenge, a 10-year program to create a cyber workforce to meet the growing demands in cybersecurity. As part of the USCC Virtual Cyber Camp, there will be four days of training in key cybersecurity areas, and the last day will include a Capture The Flag competition. The winners of the regional competitions will be invited to a national competition in the fall.
Kuzmenkova was totally in her element at the cyber camp. For four days she listened in rapt attention to the eight hours of lectures on cybersecurity program analysis, Windows memory forensics, web app pen testing and packet crafting with Scapy.
At the conclusion of camp, Team Concord was randomly selected with Kuzmenkova, fellow DePaul student Adam Slowik and two students from California---Kyle Fu, and Justin Sherley---priming for the final competition.
Concord's other three members had no idea how much their fourth teammate loves a challenge. She began playing tennis as a four-year-old, evolving into the prime-time athlete that led DePaul to a BIG EAST title in 2019 overcoming some serious odds.
The Blue Demons and Xavier were tied 3-3 when Kuzmenkova opened the third set of the final singles match in Cayce, S.C. down three-love. Her teammates marveled at the composure she displayed in the biggest match of her career.
Rising up at just the right moment, Kuzmenkova stormed back winning the next six points in the 5-7, 7-5, 6-3 triumph that set off a wildly joyous celebration scene.
"Tennis has been a part of my life since I was four, influenced most of the major decisions in my life and brought me to this point," Kuzmenkova said. "I would never be at DePaul if it wasn't for tennis.
"Being a student-athlete taught me that hard work always pays off, which motivates me to try harder and do my best in every field. Even though I love tennis and it is always going to be part of who I am, cybersecurity is something I am very passionate about. Recently I became a part of DePaul's Security Deamons club."
That passion combined with her competitive edge inspired Team Concord at cybercamp.
"We formed an amazing team and fought together against other teams for the chance to participate in final Cyberbowl competition," Kuzmenkova said. "One of the reasons we were able to do so well is that we worked as a real team. We didn't actually have a team leader as we all communicated well with each other and were responsible team members.
"At the award ceremony when I heard that our team won, it was such an incredible feeling. We did not just win, but beat all the other teams by a huge margin. We even managed to record the second-highest score among all three regions.
"As a reward for becoming the best in Region 2, each of our team members got an initiation to the US Cyber Challenge National competition, called Cyberbowl. Only six teams out of all the regions advanced to the Cyberbowl."
In early October, Kuzmenkova & Co. were completely engaged in Capture The Flag missions encompassing network analysis, cryptography and reverse engineering. The Blue Demon senior went head-to-head with the very best cybersecurity students in the country.
"For me as an athlete, the hardest part of the Cyberbowl was not being able to sleep for 28 consecutive hours,"Kuzmenkova said. "The Capture The Flag started at 8 a.m. Friday and ended at noon on Saturday.
"But for sure, the struggle was well worth it. I am so glad what I actually did just for extra credit in class turned into becoming the 2020 US Cyber Challenge National Cyber Bowl champion.
"Our team received a WWW belt, which reminds me of a BIG EAST championship trophy. We also received a USCC Challenge coin and got a chance to choose a gift certificate for one of the SANS Institute courses for free."
In exchange for offering up a little extra credit, a certain faculty member ended up with a national champion.
"I was super proud of Alina," Salahieh said. "She is a gladiator in my TDC377 course that she took with me.
"Alina is my first student to win first place in the National Cyber Challenge. Previous students had won first in the USCC regional in 2018 and 2019."
Salahieh was part of the organizing team for the National US Cyber Challenge Super Cyber Bowl event and teamed with USCC National Director Luke McCormack as the host organizers for the Region 1 Cyber Boot Camp for the 2020 USCC Cyber Competition they hosted virtually online June 8-12 with Virginia Tech and Ivy Tech.
"Not only is Alina an outstanding student---she is a warrior, very hard-working and intelligent," Salahieh said. "I believe she will be a very successful cybersecurity professional and leader.
"I am super proud of her. She used to come to my class and tell me she had to compete with the DePaul tennis team and had to miss a class, but would make sure to watch the recording and do the homework and labs. She was a Gladiator Cybersecurity student."
And now she's a champion in cyberspace and in the world of sports.
"She has told me of her passion for tennis," Salahieh said. "I would love one day to come see her play and cheer for her at DePaul."
Right in the middle of her cybersecurity class (Fundamentals of Network Security) last spring, professor Rami Salahieh invited his students to take the US Cyber Challenge Cyber Quest and earn some bonus points.
Kuzmenkova, who was born in Russia and has lived in Croatia, Spain, Pennsylvania and Florida, jumped at the opportunity. After all, this is a Blue Demon women's tennis player whose entire team is so embedded in academics that they recorded a perfect 4.0 team GPA last spring.
Why settle for an "A" when an A+ is available?
Cyber Quests are a series of fun but challenging on-line competitions allowing participants to demonstrate their knowledge in a variety of information security realms. Each quest features an artifact for analysis along with a series of quiz questions.
Some quests focus on a potentially vulnerable sample web server as the artifact, challenging participants to identify its flaws using vulnerability analysis skills. Other quests include forensic analysis and packet capture analysis.
"To be honest, when I was registering for the quest, I didn't think that I would be invited to the US Cyber
Camp (regional round), Kuzmenkova said. "I just did this quest for fun and as extra credit for my class. After submitting the answers, my username appeared in the 35th position on the list of top participants.
"I knew that the top scorers would be invited to the one-week Cyber Camp during the summer. I couldn't believe that it was actually going to happen until weeks later when I received this email:"
As a result of your participation in the Cyber Quest Competition, the Center for Internet Security (CIS) and the US Cyber Challenge in partnership with Moraine Valley Community College and the Center for Systems Security and Information Assurance (CSSIA) would like to invite you to participate in the
first USCC Virtual Cyber Camp from July 6 through July 10, 2020.
The cyber camp is part of the US Cyber Challenge, a 10-year program to create a cyber workforce to meet the growing demands in cybersecurity. As part of the USCC Virtual Cyber Camp, there will be four days of training in key cybersecurity areas, and the last day will include a Capture The Flag competition. The winners of the regional competitions will be invited to a national competition in the fall.
Kuzmenkova was totally in her element at the cyber camp. For four days she listened in rapt attention to the eight hours of lectures on cybersecurity program analysis, Windows memory forensics, web app pen testing and packet crafting with Scapy.
At the conclusion of camp, Team Concord was randomly selected with Kuzmenkova, fellow DePaul student Adam Slowik and two students from California---Kyle Fu, and Justin Sherley---priming for the final competition.
Concord's other three members had no idea how much their fourth teammate loves a challenge. She began playing tennis as a four-year-old, evolving into the prime-time athlete that led DePaul to a BIG EAST title in 2019 overcoming some serious odds.
The Blue Demons and Xavier were tied 3-3 when Kuzmenkova opened the third set of the final singles match in Cayce, S.C. down three-love. Her teammates marveled at the composure she displayed in the biggest match of her career.
Rising up at just the right moment, Kuzmenkova stormed back winning the next six points in the 5-7, 7-5, 6-3 triumph that set off a wildly joyous celebration scene.
"Tennis has been a part of my life since I was four, influenced most of the major decisions in my life and brought me to this point," Kuzmenkova said. "I would never be at DePaul if it wasn't for tennis.
"Being a student-athlete taught me that hard work always pays off, which motivates me to try harder and do my best in every field. Even though I love tennis and it is always going to be part of who I am, cybersecurity is something I am very passionate about. Recently I became a part of DePaul's Security Deamons club."
That passion combined with her competitive edge inspired Team Concord at cybercamp.
"We formed an amazing team and fought together against other teams for the chance to participate in final Cyberbowl competition," Kuzmenkova said. "One of the reasons we were able to do so well is that we worked as a real team. We didn't actually have a team leader as we all communicated well with each other and were responsible team members.
"At the award ceremony when I heard that our team won, it was such an incredible feeling. We did not just win, but beat all the other teams by a huge margin. We even managed to record the second-highest score among all three regions.
"As a reward for becoming the best in Region 2, each of our team members got an initiation to the US Cyber Challenge National competition, called Cyberbowl. Only six teams out of all the regions advanced to the Cyberbowl."
In early October, Kuzmenkova & Co. were completely engaged in Capture The Flag missions encompassing network analysis, cryptography and reverse engineering. The Blue Demon senior went head-to-head with the very best cybersecurity students in the country.
"For me as an athlete, the hardest part of the Cyberbowl was not being able to sleep for 28 consecutive hours,"Kuzmenkova said. "The Capture The Flag started at 8 a.m. Friday and ended at noon on Saturday.
"But for sure, the struggle was well worth it. I am so glad what I actually did just for extra credit in class turned into becoming the 2020 US Cyber Challenge National Cyber Bowl champion.
"Our team received a WWW belt, which reminds me of a BIG EAST championship trophy. We also received a USCC Challenge coin and got a chance to choose a gift certificate for one of the SANS Institute courses for free."
In exchange for offering up a little extra credit, a certain faculty member ended up with a national champion.
"I was super proud of Alina," Salahieh said. "She is a gladiator in my TDC377 course that she took with me.
"Alina is my first student to win first place in the National Cyber Challenge. Previous students had won first in the USCC regional in 2018 and 2019."
Salahieh was part of the organizing team for the National US Cyber Challenge Super Cyber Bowl event and teamed with USCC National Director Luke McCormack as the host organizers for the Region 1 Cyber Boot Camp for the 2020 USCC Cyber Competition they hosted virtually online June 8-12 with Virginia Tech and Ivy Tech.
"Not only is Alina an outstanding student---she is a warrior, very hard-working and intelligent," Salahieh said. "I believe she will be a very successful cybersecurity professional and leader.
"I am super proud of her. She used to come to my class and tell me she had to compete with the DePaul tennis team and had to miss a class, but would make sure to watch the recording and do the homework and labs. She was a Gladiator Cybersecurity student."
And now she's a champion in cyberspace and in the world of sports.
"She has told me of her passion for tennis," Salahieh said. "I would love one day to come see her play and cheer for her at DePaul."
Players Mentioned
/ WOMEN'S TENNIS
WTEN: Yuliya Kizelbasheva Be the Match Interview
Thursday, August 31
Yuliya Kizelbasheva: Be The Match Interview
Thursday, August 31
REACTION: DePaul Women's Tennis NCAA Tournament
Tuesday, May 02
DePaul Tennis: Talents and Tricks
Wednesday, April 26