VMI Cyber Defense Laboratory

🚨🧑‍💻CYBER CAPTAIN OF THE WEEK🧑‍💻🚨
Cadet Noah Goldsmith is a Computer Science major with a minor in Cybersecurity from Lynchburg, VA. He is a member of the Business Development and Community Outreach team (BDCO) within the Cyber Captains Program. His current position is in software and network pe*******on testing. He has held leadership positions within the VMI regimental system throughout his entire time at VMI.

Goldsmith is a 1st classman at VMI. In May, he will graduate from VMI and commission into the U.S. Army as a Cyber Officer. Cadet Goldsmith is excited to move down to Army Cyber Command at Fort Gordon, GA in the months following graduation.

Currently, he is working on developing a strategic plan to teach local high schools pe*******on methods they can use on their own systems and networks. In addition to working in collaboration with other Cyber Captains to develop offensive skills which he enjoys.

🚨🧑‍💻CYBER CAPTAIN OF THE WEEK🧑‍💻🚨
Cadet Joseph Lieber is an Electrical and Computer Engineering major with a Cybersecurity minor. He is the Team Lead for the Autonomous Driving Vehicle Project, where they are applying application security to the design. He does a lot of 3-D design, fabrication, programming, and design of embedded systems. He enjoys learning about technology and new ways to use it. He will be commissioning into the United States Army Reserves or National Guard upon graduating from VMI.

🚨🧑‍💻CYBER CAPTAIN OF THE WEEK🧑‍💻🚨

Cadet Aidan Noonan is a Computer Science major with a minor in Cybersecurity. He is an active member of the jiu jitsu club and a cadre corporal at VMI. Additionally, Aidan enjoys competing in CTF competitions with other cyber captains.

Cadet Noonan is a member of the Network and System Operations team in the Cyber Captains Program. Currently, his team is working on an Internet-of-Things (IoT) box. After graduation, Aidan would love to work for the Department of Defense.

🚨🧑‍💻CYBER CAPTAIN OF THE WEEK🧑‍💻🚨

Cadet Sibi Bagavathy is the Business Development & Community Outreach Team Lead for the Cyber Captains Program at VMI. He is an Economics/Business major with a Cybersecurity minor and is from Northern Virginia. He holds rank within the Corps as a member of the S2 staff and is a member of the Yearbook club. Outside of school he enjoys cycling and watching Formula-1. After graduation Sibi is seeking to commission as an Intelligence Officer in the U.S. Air Force.

The annual Commonwealth Cyber Fusion Event continues today with the Capture-the-Flag (CTF) style competition. Our VMI Cyber Captains are competing with several other universities in challenges that focus on cybersecurity-related fields in a simulated environment, including cryptography, network traffic analysis, reverse engineering, steganography, and more.

Today marks the start of the Annual Commonwealth Cyber Fusion Event, which is being held at VMI. This two-day event combines a collegiate cyber competition with learning and career opportunities that emphasize Cyber Fusion. The Virginia Cyber Range develops and hosts the Virginia Cyber Cup Capture the Flag Competition.

Cadet Dylan Whitt, a member of the Cyber Captain Program (CCP) High School Outreach team, visited the Rockbridge County High School (RCHS) Cyber Club on Feb 17th to deliver a presentation on OSINT (Open-Source Intelligence). Dylan conducted an OSINT presentation and hands-on activity to RCHS students to increase their knowledge and understanding of the purpose and usefulness of OSINT. Cadet Whitt covered various topics in the OSINT domain, including the different types of intelligence, passive and active data collection methods, how to choose the right tools when conducting OSINT investigations, and more. Students participated in the presentation and conducted an OSINT investigation utilizing a fake (sock puppet) Twitter account created by Cadet Whitt.

The purpose of the High School Outreach team is to help the VMI Cyber Defense Lab (Cydef) develop a recruiting pipeline for future VMI students interested in Cybersecurity. One of the students attending the presentation has recently decided to matriculate to VMI in the upcoming fall to join the Computer and Information Sciences Department and become a member of the CCP. We hope that the relationships we develop will continue to produce more prospective cadets in the future.

🚨🧑‍💻CYBER CAPTAIN OF THE WEEK🧑‍💻🚨

Cadet Corey Jones serves as the Network/System Operations Team lead for the Cyber Captain Program. Cadet Jones is a Computer Science major and Cybersecurity minor from Melbourne, FL. He is the Regimental Band Drum Captain and plays the drums for the VMI Commanders Jazz Band. Upon graduating in May, Cadet Jones will be commissioning into the Air Force as a Cyberspace Operations officer, and in the summer, he will be doing an internship with the Griffiss Institute through their Advanced Course in Engineering (ACE) program. In his free time, he enjoys programming, practicing CTFs, and playing music.

Currently, the Network/System Operations Team is working on the backend of an interactive IoT system with ProCyEd. This work involves programming the controls for the IoT devices and communicating their status back to the front end.

🚨🧑‍💻CYBER CAPTAIN OF THE WEEK🧑‍💻🚨

Cadet Jonathan Tumwikirize serves as the Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT) Team Lead for the Cyber Captain Program. He is an Electrical and Computer Engineering major in the Class of 2024 at VMI. Raised in several countries within sub-Saharan Africa, Tumwikirize is originally from Centreville, Virginia. He is an active participant in the VMI marching band, enjoys rugby, soccer, and basketball, and holds a rank position within the Corp's regimental system. Acquired from his parents' commitment to USAID expatriate work and time overseas, Tumwikirize has a unique insight into his potential contributions to the betterment of society. With his love of technology, observation of cross-cultural behavior, and international exposure, Tumwikirize aspires to contribute to global solutions in areas of defense in the intelligence community.

The OSINT team and Business and Community Outreach Cyber Captain team (Led by Sibi Bagavathy) are leading the charge in promoting safe and secure internet browsing and social media awareness for high school students.

💻👔HARD AT WORK👔💻

Here is a picture of our VMI Cyber Captains, as well as Cyber Club members working on training for the NCX Competition. NCX is a competition which puts teams, Military Academies, and Senior Military Colleges against each other in a variety of challenges. Each group represented has a team or teams which will compete in different categories such as Cryptography, Digital Forensics, Virtual Capture the Flag, and Cyber Policy, among a few others.

All Cyber Captains are currently required to participate in Cyber Club and some Cyber Competitions such as NCX, which gives us all a great hands-on experience within the cybersecurity field.

🚨🧑‍💻CYBER CAPTAIN OF THE WEEK🧑‍💻🚨

Cadet Joe Gilman currently serves as an OSINT (Open-Source Intelligence) team member within the Cyber Captains Program at VMI. Joe is a second classman, majoring in Computer Science, with a minor in Cybersecurity.

Cadet Gilman stated, “I chose VMI because I believed that it would help keep me accountable for the time I would spend during college, as well as help me create strong relationships that would last throughout my life. The Cyber Captain Program has given me an opportunity to explore different areas of the IT and Cybersecurity world and find what suits me best. I normally spend my free time shadowing an IT specialist at a local bank, playing basketball, or reading.”

The OSINT team is currently working on numerous projects such as researching OSINT technologies like Maltego, working on a proposal for research about the effects of our world of technology and the "age of information" on how our brains operate, as well as how our daily tasks and projects are affected by cyberspace.

🚨🧑‍💻CYBER CAPTAIN OF THE WEEK🧑‍💻🚨

Cadet Nate Coley currently serves as the Assistant Cadet in Charge of the Cyber Captains Program at VMI. The ACIC assists the Cyber Captain Mentor in supervising and managing Cyber Captain interns performing cyber-related work and assists the VMI Cyber Captain Mentor in operational decision-making processes.

Nate is a Computer Science major with a minor in Cybersecurity from Richmond, VA. He has held leadership positions within the VMI regimental and class systems and plans to use valuable experience gained at VMI within the workplace. Upon graduating in May of 2022, Nate will begin his career as an entry-level system administrator. In his free time, he enjoys learning about all things cybersecurity, practicing CTF exercises and pen-testing, along with participating weekly in VMI’s Cyber Club.