Maryland Students Participate in 1st Annual State Forensics Investigation Challenge at PGCC

LARGO, Md.—Maryland students will participate in the 1st Annual Maryland Digital Forensics Investigation Challenge at Prince George’s Community College. Top cyber speakers will address attendees while teams of up to four students from Maryland high schools, community colleges and four-year universities will be given 20 minutes to complete an investigation based on a mock cybercrime. The event is scheduled for November 29,     8 a.m.-5 p.m., in Queen Anne Fine Arts and Largo Student Center at Prince George’s Community College.   

“The goal of the challenge is to engage the digital forensics community as they cultivate new cyber professionals and pioneer new investigative tools, techniques and methodologies,” said Michael Burt, professor of information and engineering technology and CyberWatch program manager at Prince George’s Community College.  “This event will connect senior cyber professionals and Maryland students interested in digital forensics and cyber investigation,” he added.  

Competing teams will follow all of the steps in the investigation process including drafting an affidavit for a search warrant, processing a crime scene and testifying in a mock trial.  The winners of the challenge from each category will be invited to tour the Pentagon on November 30 and meet senior Department of Defense cyber leadership.  

United States Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-Maryland); Ernest McDuffie, lead, National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education; and Haden Land, president of the Prince George’s Community College Foundation, Inc. and vice president, Engineering & Chief Technology Officer at Lockheed Martin IS&GS Civil Product Line have been invited to speak. 

For more information about the Maryland Digital Forensics Investigation Challenge sponsored by Prince George’s Community College, CyberWatch at Prince George's Community College and the Local Advisory Council for Career and Technical Education of Prince George's County, visit www.MDDFI.org .  

Prince George’s Community College is a National Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Two-year Education designated by the National Security Agency and the Department of Homeland Security (2010-2015). Established in 1958, Prince George’s Community College provides transfer and career programs that help students transfer to four-year colleges and universities and prepare them for the workforce. Each year, 40,000 students take part in more than 200 academic programs and workforce development and continuing education courses. Located in Largo, Maryland, Prince George’s Community College has additional sites at Joint Base Andrews, University Town Center in Hyattsville, Laurel College Center, Skilled Trades Center in Camp Springs, and Westphalia Training Center in Upper Marlboro. For more information, visit the college website at www.pgcc.edu, follow on Twitter,  Facebook, Foursquare, LinkedIn and tune-in to Transforming Lives at Prince George’s Community College, Mondays at 11 a.m.