Plymouth-Canton students win Michigan cybersecurity challenge

As businesses and corporations around the globe lose millions of dollars to online hackers, a young wave of cybersecurity guardians at Plymouth-Canton high schools are learning how to defuse the attackers — while simultaneously filling up trophy cases with coveted awards.

On Oct. 22, in a statewide competition forced into virtual mode by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Crickets — a trio of Plymouth-Canton students — outperformed more than 200 Michigan high school teams to capture first place in the Governor's High School Cyber Challenge.

The 10 finalists earned points in online capture the flag-type challenges designed to test their knowledge of information technology and cybersecurity.

Mentored by Canton High School teacher Scott Obsniuk, Plymouth-Canton is nearing GOAT status in the decade-old competition as it swept the top three spots in October and has placed teams in the top 10 each of the past four years.

"I think you can attribute our success to a number of things," Obsniuk said. "We have a solid computer science program and our the cybersecurity program attracts a lot of advanced placement students. 

"Honestly, all I do is sign them up, give them the rules and tell them what to expect and they go from there. It's so early on in the school year, we don't have a lot of time to cover a whole lot of content or practice for the competition, so it's really a compilation of what they've learned throughout different computer science courses."

The winning triumvirate consisted of Canton High School senior Eric D'urso, Plymouth High School junior Jacob Eason and Canton junior David Reeves, all of whom revealed they'd like to eventually secure jobs in the cybersecurity field.

The trio agreed there's a lot more to thwarting hackers than changing your passwords frequently.

"You have to get into the hackers' minds, know what they're trying to do before you can prevent hacking," said Reeves. "Every feature of a computer can be abused, so you have to be on the look out for suspicious-looking codes or red flags."

Throughout the Governor's Challenge, team members worked individually on separate computers, deciphering codes that may have been generated by up-to-no-good hackers.

"The most important thing people need to remember is to not put themselves in compromising positions," D'urso said.

Obsniuk said the demand for cybersecurity professionals is skyrocketing due to the daily threat of scammers trying to get rich at the expense of large corporations and organizations.

"When I first got into this, I used to have to read articles to gather information about how corporations are getting hacked," Obsniuk said. "Recently, just talking to my siblings and my wife, it's happening their workplaces, which is healthcare and hospitality. Nobody's safe any more, which is why it's so important that we have students like we do who want to make this their career.   

"Just clicking on one link in an email can let a hacker into a corporation's system which can then be overtaken by ransomware."

This year's challenge attracted 240 teams made up of 688 students from 26 Michigan high schools. 

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The Governor’s High School Cyber Challenge is facilitated by Merit Network and the Michigan Cyber Range, in partnership with the State of Michigan.

The event, in its 10th year, brought together experts from across the globe to address a variety of cybersecurity issues impacting the world.

"Pre-pandemic, the event was held at the TCF Center in downtown Detroit in conjunction with the International Cybersecurity Summit," Obsniuk said. "When we finished sixth in 2018, Gov. Snyder was there and we got to go on stage with Gov. Whitmer when we finished second in 2019. The room was filled with cybersecurity professionals from all over."

Contact reporter Ed Wright at eawright@hometownlife.com or 517-375-1113.

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