Lew-Port Ethical Hacking Team shines

Edwin J. Viera, Niagara Gazette, Niagara Falls, N.Y.
·2 min read

Feb. 24—LEWISTON — In the middle of their Feb. 22 meeting, members of the Lewiston-Porter Board of Education congratulated their technology team for remaining champions at a University of Buffalo's High School Cybersecurity Competition, held earlier in this month.

The competition involves a team of four high school students working to defend a small network of systems from attack, with their score being calculated based on various timed tasks, as well as on how well their services remain available. Scott Tinney, a technology teacher at Lew-Port High School, and Blake Turner, a member of the Lew-Port Ethical Hacking Team, joined the Board of Education during its meeting to speak about the competition and apprise the board of what the team does.

"We do these competitions at UB and cybersecurity branches out to call these colleges," Turner said. "Not only that, but it has very important applications in the world. We're a group of students who have learned this all on our own and in the world. We won the Lockdown competition two times in a row, now, out of the four times we have participated in the event. We all love to explore technology and learn more about it."

At the competition this year, the team's scenario involved them being hired to help the fictional Buffalo General Hospital in its COVID-19 vaccine distribution. The team's objective was keeping system intruders from stealing personally identifiable information. Tinney said it was nice to be able to show others what the team could do.

Senior members Alec Ventresca and Luc Buth will be going off to college in the fall. Ventresca will be attending UB to major in Engineering/Computer Science. Buth is choosing between multiple schools, but is looking to major in Engineering/Computer Science or ROTC (Reserve Officer's Training Corps). Turner, along with fellow teammate, Michael Siejak will remain on the team when they're juniors in the 2021-2022 school year.

Turner added the team wasn't perfect right off the bat, with their skills developing as time went by. Initially, the team took part in two competitions to learn the kind of scenarios they'd be dealing with, and soon learned how to combine their knowledge to ensure success in all future competitive events.

Superintendent Paul Casseri congratulated the team with board members, thanking them for bringing home a victory in a time of crisis and uncertainty.

Heather Lyon, assistant superintendent of curriculum, instruction and technology, said this work defines students work that goes beyond the classroom and a report card. She was glad to see the school offer a program that taps into the interests of the students and engages them in a thorough and meaningful manner.