Duke Cyber Club has continued to bolster Duke’s status in the cybersecurity space after winning an international competition in Austin, Texas last semester. The victory gave three members of the club the exceptional opportunity to attend Black Hat USA 2025, one of the world’s leading cybersecurity conferences.
Duke Cyber won first place among 24 teams in the Atlantic Council’s 2025 Cyber 9/12 Strategy Challenge International Championship in Austin, Texas, in February. The Atlantic Council holds several competitions every year, where students from universities around the world build their skills in cybersecurity policy.
The club at Duke has more than 50 active members, approximately half of whom are engineering students. The club is open to undergraduate and graduate students from all fields of study.
“Duke Cyber Club continues to represent themselves and the University at the highest standards of excellence, teamwork, and achievement. Their accomplishment is reflective of their hard work, creative problem solving, and superior executive communication skills — all of which help them obtain internships and other professional opportunities,” said Kim Kotlar, adjunct professor in the Engineering Graduate and Professional Programs and Duke Cyber’s faculty mentor.
Throughout the year, club training sessions are peer-led by executive board members who are assisted by Duke faculty. Duke Cyber also holds speaker and networking events as well as professional development opportunities. These experiencees prepare students to thrive in their careers after graduation and to stand out at international competitions.
Policy and Technical Sides of Cybersecurity
Duke Cyber consists of two tracks, one focused on cyber and national security policy and the other on the technical aspects of cybersecurity. The policy track competes in a series of Cyber 9/12 Strategy Challenges each year, where teams of four analyze simulated crisis scenarios and create policy recommendations for a mock U.S. National Security Council following a cyberattack on critical infrastructure.
The club sent three policy teams, the Devil's Data Decryptors, the Duke ATTAckers, and the Cameron Codebusters, to the Cyber 9/12 Strategy Challenge in Austin. The Devil's Data Decryptors won the competition and the top prize.
Coach Jim Hargrove praised the Devil's Data Decryptors, saying, “I am extremely proud of the team. Their dedication and hard work prior to and during the competition was impressive, while their approach to addressing an extremely complex set of technical and policy issues was truly innovative and insightful.”
But the spotlight doesn’t shine on the policy track alone.
Duke Cyber’s tech track centers around the technical side of cybersecurity. Its members compete in capture-the-flag-style (CTF) challenges to hone their offensive and defensive cybersecurity skills. In the 2024-25 academic year, the tech track took part in university CTF competitions and was nationally ranked for its success, despite having a small team.
Duke Cyber Attends International Conference
By winning the Austin Cyber 9/12 Strategy Challenge, Duke Cyber received a cash prize and complimentary passes to Black Hat USA 2025, one of the top cybersecurity conferences in the world, hosted in Las Vegas in August.
Members of the Devil's Data Decryptors attended the conference and gained insights from distinguished professionals about the latest challenges and developments in cybersecurity. Notable speakers included Chris Inglis, the former U.S. National Cyber Director, and Nicole Perlroth, the former lead cybersecurity reporter for The New York Times.
“Black Hat USA 2025 provided a powerful perspective on how quickly cybersecurity is evolving with advancements in AI and technology as a whole,” said Emily Zhao, an electrical and computer engineering and computer science student. “The threat environment is growing more complex and faster than ever before, making resilience a crucial priority. Hearing from experts and leaders who are on the front lines of these challenges was incredibly inspiring, and I am really excited by the innovation driving efforts to address today’s most urgent cybersecurity threats.”
“The Black Hat conference was an eye-opening experience that showcased the full strength and knowledge of the cybersecurity industry,” explained Zane Holley, a public policy and history student. “It gave me incredible insights into how the many parts of the industry are working together to adapt and respond to emerging challenges. Attending Black Hat helped me understand what cybersecurity looks like on a day-to-day basis in the real world.”
A valuable takeaway of the experience was learning how technical innovation and cybersecurity policy are converging in response to rapidly evolving threats. Topics discussed included AI governance and offensive security, which demonstrated how policy frameworks and technical defenses must evolve together, because effective progress in cybersecurity depends on collaboration and understanding between both sides.
“Black Hat was an amazing opportunity to learn from leading experts from such different areas across cybersecurity,” said Priscilla Kang, a public policy and computer science student. “Being able to hear from diverse perspectives on the rapidly changing threat landscape was both exciting and overwhelming. The keynote from former New York Times reporter Nicole Perlroth was inspiring to hear as she highlighted the challenges that the cybersecurity field has faced and will face in the future, while also inspiring us to focus on our courage and collective responsibility.”