PirateQ 
Pensacola State College hosted the inaugural Annual Florida College System Cybersecurity Competition on Nov. 4 in the Donald McMahon III Center for Cybersecurity on the Pensacola campus.
Fourteen FCS institutions from across the state participated in the competition sponsored by Cyber Florida.
“The competition entailed real-world cybersecurity scenarios, where students were challenged to solve various cybercrime scenarios and storylines,” said Dr. Kirk Bradley, PSC Dean of Studies and Academic Support.
The scenarios measured students’ skills to detect, respond to, and stand against security incidents, mapped against specific competencies and performance indicators.
Pensacola State College placed fourth in the competition, with 15 cybersecurity students participating. Daytona State College placed first in the contest, with Palm Beach State College second and St. Petersburg State College third.
The PSC team was made up of Malcolm Chaney, Danielle Charles, Madelyn Conley, Caitlyn Cool, Dylan Como, Daishan Daniels, Johnny Gazoo, Sullivan Gerlits, Colton Johnson, Joshua Leemon, Christopher Maloney, Dexter Murphy, Dillon Myers, Triston Riddle and Robert Sybert.
The timed individual scenarios also involved a virtual infrastructure and applications, user activity, tasks to perform, unexpected incidents and more.
The competition was the second contest the Pensacola State cyber students have competed in this fall. The College placed second in the 2023 ITEN Wired Cybersecurity Competition held on Oct. 14 at GBSI Security Operations Center in Pensacola.
“The invitation-only competition allowed teams to apply cybersecurity skills, practice the craft, and experience a day in the life of the Security Operations Center,” Bradley added.