This is a competitive undergraduate cyber challenge, that allows for students across various schools within Virginia and majors, to work together, regardless of our diversity and skillset on a critical cybersecurity challenge within the digital realm. The critical cyber challenge in which the groups wants to explore, is left entirely up for them to decide. However, they must include aspects of design thinking, for presenting there prototype to the cohort.

When it came to my team, we decided we where going to tackle the importance of phishing attacks, and how they can be detrimental to any field of study. Which was gonna be very easy at first, since everyone within my group was a cybersecurity major. However, we ran into issues, since we did not think of the protype within a interdisciplinary perspective. Which led to are initial protype being rejected, and my group scrambling for answers. I knew I had to take action, so with the help of my group we coordinated making a questionnaire, that consisted of topics within phishing, and could be answered by anyone, regardless of technical background. Then me and my group, decided to go around campus talking to both professor’s and students regardless of major, about the issue of phishing, and received great feedback, to create are second protype. The second protype included both aspects of design thinking, and a interdisciplinary perspective of phishing, that ultimately won us the competition.

The lesson that was learned from this cyber challenge through the collaboration with my peers, is that communication is essential, and is needed for creating robust solutions in the digital realm. I also learned that diversity of thoughts, helps to strengthen security posture. Overall this was a amazing opportunity to say the least, and is one that left a impact on me, as I continue to progress, throughout my academic journey.