by Ryan Rong ’24

Codebreaking, getting access to databases, cracking passwords … These felt like scenes in a movie to me at the start of the school year. Little did I know, in just a few months I would be the one doing them.

It was the end of fall term when my computer science teacher Mr. Luo introduced me to Cyberstart America, a free online Capture the Flag contest open to all high school students. The contest consists of challenges that participants solve by cracking a code or getting access to logins, earning flags along the way.

The fun and engaging problems intrigued me as I started solving one after the other. I learned simple concepts such as looking into the source code of websites and more advanced problem-solving techniques such as Command Line Injection and Buffer Overflow. Unlike math equations, these problems did not always have a clear direction to solve them. Often I had to explore new ways to tackle challenges and many times they fail, but it makes it all the more rewarding when you finally get it right.

Cyberstart America is not an individual effort. I received support from many of my friends who also joined the contest as well as Rohan Nunugonda ’22, the leader of the Peddie Cybersecurity Club. Eventually, I fully completed two out of the four bases and was ranked number one in our school. That was when I received a silver badge and an email to apply for the National Cyber Scholarship for prizes. The members of the Peddie Cybersecurity club achieved great success too. Even though it is our club’s first year, 10 students made it as Cyberstart America semi-finalists, making The Peddie School the number one private school in New Jersey with the most semi-finalists.

Peddie School Cyberstart America Semi-Finalists

• Ryan Rong ’24
• Rohan Nunugonda ’22
• Andy Wang ’25
• (Philip) Yang Han ’25
• (Felix) Hanzhang Liu ’24
• Kyle Song ’24
• Edward Eum ’24
• Thomas Wen ’24
• Anthony Morales ’24
• Alex Kong ’24

Rohan also qualified as a Scholar winner and was awarded a free attempt at the GIAC GFACT cyber certification exam and free access to the SANS Cyber Foundation Academy (tuition is $3,000).

Regardless of the results, Cyberstart America was an unforgettable experience for me as it ignited a passion for cybersecurity in me. I developed a deep understanding of how others might try to threaten our cybersecurity and how to protect our internet presence in this age of technology. I look forward to competing in Cyberstart America again next year and improving upon this year’s success.