Information technology students at the College of Southern Maryland tested their cyber security skills at the Johns Hopkins University’s Annual Digital Forensics Competition recently and came out on top. Students, coached by CSM Adjunct Faculty Robert Murphy, were challenged with extracting data from a broken compact disk and a broken floppy disk, cracking password protected files and analyzing keylogger files used to record keystrokes. The competition was modeled after the U.S. Department of Defense Cyber Crime Center’s annual forensics competition.

"Our team came together from being in the same class," said CSM student David Shelnutt of Waldorf. "It means a lot to me to win an award like this and I intend to use this on my resume. My major is information systems security and my career path will hopefully lead to getting a security related job after I finish my associate’s degree at CSM." Shelnutt plans to continue working toward a bachelor’s degree.

For information on CSM’s Information Technology Programs, visit www.csmd.edu or contact CSM Business and Technology Chair Jeff Tjiputra at JeffT@csmd.edu or 301-934-7556.

A regionally accredited community college that provides programs and services with a special focus on local workforce development to maintain and grow a healthy economy and community, the College of Southern Maryland is a two-time silver level recipient of the Maryland Performance Excellence Award. CSM, founded in 1958, is the fifth largest community college in Maryland with campuses in Calvert, Charles and St. Mary’s counties. For information about CSM, call 301-934-7765 or 301-870-2309, 240-725-5499 or 443-550-6199, Ext. 7765 or visit www.csmd.edu.