Duke Cyber students were recently selected as semi-finalists during the 2026 Collegiate Cyber 9/12 Strategy Challenge in Austin, Texas. The competition was hosted by the Atlantic Council, in partnership with the Strauss Center for International Security and Law at the University of Texas Austin.
The club sent two teams consisting of graduate and undergraduate students: the Cyber Crazies (Angie Feng, Jeanette Pan, Kelly Yin, Yinuo Tong) and 504 Bhad Gateway (Austin Sandoval, Delaney McLaughlin, Michael Saju, Moonwon Seo). The Cyber Crazies advanced to the semi-finals as one of 12 teams.
Faculty advisor and coach Professor Kim Kotlar added, “The Cyber Crazies were fantastic and showed just how important collaboration and teamwork are to solving challenging cyber problems. Some of the best elements of participating in Cyber 9-12 competitions are opportunities to learn real-world skills, like executive briefing, writing, and research, that will serve them well as they pursue internships and future careers.”
Long-time coach Mr. Jim Hargrove praised the team’s performance: “I am so proud of our Cyber 9-12 Austin competition team, the Cyber Crazies. They represented themselves and Duke University exceptionally well.”
Throughout the weekend, students tackled a realistic cyber crisis scenario involving an Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) pre-positioning campaign targeting water critical infrastructure. The student teams crafted policy briefs and defended their strategic recommendations before mock National Security Council panels composed of senior professionals from the National Security Agency, Office of Management and Budget, Microsoft, Anthropic, leading universities, and cyber policy think tanks.
Building on this success, Duke Cyber Club is excited to send another team to the Atlantic Council Cyber 9/12 Strategy Challenge in Washington, D.C. this March. The club welcomes undergraduate and graduate students from all academic backgrounds who are interested in engaging with cybersecurity from a policy or technical perspective. More information about the club can be found here: https://duke.campusgroups.com/dukecyber/home/.
Competitors shared their reflections on what they learned and gained from the experience:
Angie Feng (Public Policy/Computer Science, 2028): My biggest takeaway from the Austin Cyber 9/12 Strategy Challenge is the importance of local and state partners in cybersecurity. As the keynote speaker from the Office of the National Cyber Director told our team, “cyberattacks start and end local.” Our solutions emphasized collaboration with state governments and private sector capabilities to help under-resourced critical infrastructure recover and strengthen cyber resilience. I’m grateful for my teammates, our coaches, and the Duke Cyber community for their dedication, enthusiasm, and support!
Delaney McLaughlin (M.A., Applied Ethics and Policy): This experience was made special by the people I got to share it with. I’m incredibly thankful for my team, our coach (Major General Brett Williams, former CYBERCOM senior leader), the undergraduate team, and the mentors who supported us throughout. Even though we didn’t win, I couldn’t have asked for a better group to travel with and learn alongside. I learned so much from the people around me and am truly grateful for everything this experience gave me.
Jeanette Pan (Electrical and Computer Engineering, 2029): Austin Cyber 9/12 let me channel my technical background into breaking down complex systems and communicating them to decision-makers in high-pressure, real-world scenarios. What stood out most was the inherently interdisciplinary nature of cyber and the discussions I had with my teammates, competitors, and judges from a variety of backgrounds. I’m incredibly grateful to our coaches, Kim and Jim, and to Duke Cyber for their support throughout the process.
Kelly Yin (Public Policy/Computer Science, 2028): The Cyber 9/12 Challenge in Austin, TX provided an amazing opportunity to engage with realistic cybersecurity scenarios affecting national security. Analyzing sophisticated cyber threats and developing policy recommendations challenged me to think critically about technical, diplomatic, and strategic dimensions of cyber incidents. It also allowed me to hear from cybersecurity professionals who work in the industry. I’m grateful to Duke Cyber, our coaches, and my team for an awesome experience!
Michael Saju (M.Eng., Artificial Intelligence): Focus on balancing depth and clarity. You want to have the best understanding of the solution, but you need to convey that understanding in the decision document for them to be able to read it in 2 minutes.