WUST Cybersecurity CTF Competition 2026: George Mason Team Takes First Place, WUST Girls Team Runners-Up
The Washington University of Science and Technology (WUST) hosted its 2026 Cybersecurity Capture the Flag (CTF) Competition, bringing together participants ranging from high school students to graduate-level competitors from across Washington, D.C., Virginia, and Maryland.The event took place at WUST’s Alexandria campus in the SOC lab, where aspiring cybersecurity professionals gathered to test and showcase their ethical hacking skills. The day-long competition featured a series of four challenge stages. Participants worked to identify and exploit vulnerabilities, capturing hidden “flags” on target systems using a range of industry tools, including Wireshark, Metasploit, Nmap, and others. The challenges were designed to simulate real-world cybersecurity scenarios, encouraging critical thinking and technical expertise. The competition was organized by the WUST SOC team, led by School of IT faculty lead and SOC Chief Advisor Dr. Necmi Mutlu, along with Assistant Professor and SOC Lab Coordinator Mahmood Menon Khan. SOC assistants Injamamul Haque and Ishak Mutlu contributed to designing and preparing the challenges. An experienced panel of judges, including Associate Professor Dr. Farhana Sarker and lab assistant Fahad Ferdous, evaluated teams after each stage of the competition. In the final results, the George Mason University team “AOD” secured first place with a perfect score of 100%. The WUST Girls team, “Zeroday Warriors,” earned second place with 85%, while Pinnacle Academy High School team named "White Hat Pumas" placed third with 75% scores. During the certificate award ceremony, WUST Chancellor and Chairman Abubokor Hanip congratulated all participants and praised the winners for their achievements. He emphasized the importance of organizing more such competitions and encouraged students to continue participating in CTF events to build their skills and represent WUST. WUST President Dr. Hasan K. Burk highlighted the value of hands-on learning, noting that competitions like these play a crucial role in engaging students and enhancing their practical knowledge. As part of the event, the SOC Lab welcomed visits from Dr. Jeffery Pirim, Vice President; Dr. Touhid Bhuiyan, Assistant Director of the School of IT; Rachele Rose, Director of Institutional Effectiveness and Chief of Staff; Dr. Sergei Andronikov, Director of Online Education; Jose Ortega, Director of Local Marketing & Recruitment; Dr. Amalisha Sabie-Aridi, Lead Faculty of the School of Business; Md. Golam Mostofa, Assistant Professor in the School of Business Administration; and several other staff members.
