University of Hawaiʻi–West Oʻahu students competing in a seven-state online contest with more than 3,000 contestants represented the campus well, with six winning scholarships, and two placing in the top 100 contestants.
The students were competing in CyberStart, a cyber security assessment and exercise that tests student aptitude and helps develop skills. The game was developed by the SANS Institute, a leading provider of cyber security training and certifications for professionals working in government and commercial institutions.
UH West Oʻahu students Marvin Buenafe and Edward Chang, placed in the top 100 contestants and won scholarships. Robert Kuakini, Derrick Le, Kevin Ryan and Catherine Sarte also earned scholarship awards.
“The CENT (Computing, Electronics and Networking Technology) and ISA (Information Security and Assurance) classes that I’ve taken from UHWO and Honolulu Community College have given me valuable information, such as introducing different sub-fields and focus courses related to cyber security,” said Buenafe, who finished 87 out of the 3,935 people that signed up.
Hawaiʻi students, ages 16 and above, competed with counterparts in Delaware, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, Rhode Island and Virginia in the CyberStart exercises. A report to Gov. David Ige shows Hawaiʻi had a larger number of high scorers and scholarship winners on a per capita basis compared to other states.
Read more at E Kamakani Hou.
—By Greg Wiles
