Center for Information Assurance
Upcoming Campus Holidays and Closures
One Time Holiday - All Campus Offices are Closed
Suspended Operations - All Campus Offices are Closed
Christmas Day Holiday - All Campus Offices are Closed
Suspended Operations - All Campus Offices are Closed
Suspended Operations - All Campus Offices are Closed
Logan Defenders
The Logan Defenders is a team of John A. Logan College students that specialize in various aspects of network security and compete in National Collegiate Cyber Defense Competitions with other regional colleges. Each member plays a crucial role in the competition, defending a virtual network against an expert team of hackers. Various members focus on Linux and Windows Servers as well as industry standard Firewalls such as Palo Alto and Cisco. The team leader(s) play the biggest role, organizing the incoming injects and managing the team assignments so each inject is completed on time. The Logan Defenders have competed in the Midwest CCDC Invitational and placed 1st!
The mission of the Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition (CCDC) system is to provide institutions with an information assurance or computer security curriculum a controlled, competitive environment to assess their student’s depth of understanding and operational competency in managing the challenges inherent in protecting a corporate network infrastructure and business information systems.
For more information about Logan Defenders e-mail Roger Jeter rogerjeter@jalc.edu
CONNOR HAMBY
1. What competitions are you competing in and what is your job?
I will be competing in Argonne this year, as well as CCDC, I’m pretty flexible, so I do whatever the team needs most in the moment.
2. Are you a freshman or sophomore?
I’m currently a sophomore.
3. A brief description about you.
I’m working on becoming as knowledgeable and effective in my career as I can be. I work hard to get to this goal, double majoring, holding a student worker position as well as trying to stay active in both Logan Defenders and WiCyS. I also still occasionally find time for my friends, the gym, and video games.
4. What is your favorite hobby?
I really enjoy being in the gym pretty much anytime my body will allow for it, otherwise I like my video games.
5. What are your career goals?
I look forward to holding a position that allows for me to benefit the company as much as the company benefits myself.
Nikolis Lissimore
1. What competitions are you competing in and what is your job?
The previous competitions I have competed in were Hivestorm 2021, Argonne 2021, Invitational for CCDC 2021 and CCDC 2022. This year I will be competing in Argonne 2022, and CCDC 2023. My occupation is an IT student worker at John A Logan College, I perform multiple task on the job such as customer service, Installing hardware and software, Imaging, creating tickets and a few other task that come in through the IT workforce.
2. Are you a freshman or sophomore?
I am a Sophomore at John A Logan College and only have one semester left after the fall semester.
3. A brief description about you.
When I am not in school or at work, I love to play games or spend time with my fiancé. I also enjoying playing basketball or just working out to keep a stable physical shape since IT isn’t one of the most “hard-working” jobs. I enjoy spending time outside with my dogs when the weather is nice since they’re always ready to play.
4. What is your favorite hobby?
My favorite hobby would have to be spending time with my fiancé. She always puts me in a good mood and is one of the few people I can stand to be with for the whole entire day hence why she has that ring on her finger.
5. What are your career goals?
My career goals in life aren’t specific, All I ask of myself is that I enjoy what I do while making enough money to not have to live from paycheck to paycheck. If I can obtain that, I’d say I’m pretty successful from there.
Sonia Bedi
1. What competitions are you competing in and what is your job?
This will be my 2nd year competing in Hivestorm, Argon and CCDC. For job it varies, I usually secure a Linux machine.
2. Are you a freshman or sophomore?
Sophomore
3. A brief description about you.
I major in cybersecurity. Outside of college and work, I love to play videogames, hike, and hang with my friends.
4. What is your favorite hobby?
My favorite hobbies are Boxing and Martial arts.
5. What are your career goals?
My current career goals is to love and enjoy my future occupation and obtain a bachelor’s degree.
Jennifer Miliotti
1. What competitions are you competing in and what is your job?
Last year I competed in Hivestorm and NCL. This year I’ll be competing in Hivestorm, Argonne, and CCDC. I usually end up with a Windows machine but willing to handle any of them.
2. Are you a freshman or sophomore?
Sophomore
3. A brief description about you.
I’m double majoring in Cybersecurity and Computer Forensics. I’m a gamer and Jeep enthusiast. In my quiet times I like to read, annoy my cat, learn new things, and listen to music. I’ll always be a life long learner.
4. What is your favorite hobby?
I don’t really have a favorite, I like to do a lot of different things. Variety is the spice of life right?
5. What are your career goals?
I want to be able to work remotely while doing lots of traveling. My preferred position would be penetration tester.
Madison Jones
1. What competitions are you competing in and what is your job?
CCDC and Hivestorm; currently Linux ?
2. Are you a freshman or sophomore?
Freshman
3. A brief description about you.
I am a freshman in cyber security and outside of work and school I enjoy spending time with friends and being outside.
4. What is your favorite hobby?
Hiking.
5. What are your career goals?
My career goals are to go into pen testing or security analysis once I graduate from John A.
Spencer Bickel
1. What competitions are you competing in and what is your job?
Hivestorm and CCDC. My current job is being the front desk person for the Student Liaison office.
2. Are you a freshman or sophomore?
I am a Freshman.
3. A brief description about you.
I am someone who is quiet and knowledgeable on quite a few subjects. I am new to the IT sphere but hope with experience I can become a valuable asset to whoever needs me.
4. What is your favorite hobby?
My favorite hobby is video game collecting, especially vintage games and game consoles.
5. What are your career goals?
My career goal is to get a stable job in the field of IT, preferably Cybersecurity.
Jonathon Peek
1. What competitions are you competing in and what is your job?
I will be competing in Argonne and CCDC this year.
2. Are you a freshman or sophmore?
I am a freshman in cybersecurity.
3. A brief description about you.
When I’m not at school or work I like to work on my car and play video games.
4. What is your favorite hobby?
Working on car, playing video games, reading manga and watching anime.
5. What are your career goals?
I hope to get a job in creating networks or setting up and configure server room.
CYBERFORCE Competition 2022 (Argonne)
Hack the Port 22 ELF Edition 2022
The week of July 25 – July 29, 2022, the Logan Defenders competed in an operational technology cyber defense competition sponsored by the NSA called Hack the Port 22 ELF Edition, held in Gulfport, MS. We were one of only ten schools nation-wide chosen to participate. The two-day competition scenario was securing and maintaining a liquid natural gas pipeline and storage tank at a port. The competition was structured such that teams individually scored points for how they secured, maintained, or restored a system, but were allowed to collaborate and work together to ultimately keep the systems secured and safe. This provided a great learning experience for the team, as the other teams consisted of graduate students and industry professionals, and it was a great opportunity to showcase JALC. What made this experience even better was the fact that the NSA covered 100% of the expenses for participating teams (travel, accommodations, and per diems).
The other competing schools were: Air Force Institute of Technology, Marquette University, Mississippi State University, National University, University of North Carolina Wilmington, University at Buffalo, The University of Texas San Antonio, Purdue University Global, and Howard Community College.
2015
The Logan Defenders participated in their first Midwest Regional Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition on February 21st, 2015.
The Logan Defenders practiced for months in preparation for the event. Each member focused specifically on the machine/system they were assigned and a project manager role was created to facilitate the incoming injects that are sent out in waves during the competition. Each role on the team is crucial to the defense of the network. Overall the event is judged based on the availability of services, if a service goes down, the machine loses points. The judges also give points for completed injects, and detecting attempted intrusions. The competition is an invaluable experience for students to learn hands-on how important cyber security is in any networked environment.
2014
In 2014, the Logan Defenders Team was created from an active John A. Logan College student organization, Y.O.D.A. (Your Operators Defending Assets) Club. With the help of Coach, Mark Rogers, the team has become what it is today.
