Adelphi, Md. — Nov. 24, 2025 — The cyber competition team from University of Maryland Global Campus took first place in the Association of Old Crows 2025 Cyber Electromagnetic Activity Capture the Flag Event, challenging teams from across academia, government, and industry.
“This victory is further evidence of the excellence of UMGC students, faculty, and alumni in the field of cybersecurity, as well as the curriculum of our undergraduate and graduate programs,” said team coach Jesse Varsalone, associate professor of cybersecurity technology at UMGC.
The competition, held Oct. 27 at the CONVERGE Innovation Center in Aberdeen, Md., featured eight teams that took on 10 technical scenario-based challenges, including coding, cryptography and network analysis.
“The fact that the UMGC team not only led the field among the university teams, but the professional teams from industry shows that UMGC is among the top cybersecurity programs in the country,” said Varsalone, who also competed as part of the UMGC team. “UMGC’s cybersecurity students are not only workforce-ready — they are among the best prepared to meet real-world challenges.”
The UMGC cyber competition team is ranked first in the United States and currently sixth in the world among universities in the ongoing Hack the Box competition.
Established in 2012, the team comprises students, alumni and faculty who compete regularly in digital forensics, penetration testing and computer network defense scenarios that help them gain experience to advance their cybersecurity careers. To prepare for competitions, students detect and combat cyberattacks in the university’s Virtual Security Lab and work through case studies in an online classroom.
About University of Maryland Global Campus
University of Maryland Global Campus was founded more than 75 years ago specifically to serve the higher education needs of working adults and military service members. Today, UMGC is the largest provider of postsecondary education in Maryland. It continues its global tradition with online and hybrid courses, more than 175 classroom and service locations worldwide and more than 135 degrees and certificates backed by the reputation of a state university and the University System of Maryland. For more information, visit https://www.umgc.edu.