Mules Win Cyber-defense Prize

Three Leilehua High School JROTC students defeated more than 1,000 other teams to take the Top Service Award at The National High School Cyber Defense Competition.

Mark Gitschlag, Jhalil Tyson and Selena Peebles advanced to the national championship after completing three rounds of preliminary competition.

The Cyberpatriot competition replicates real-life cyber security situations where students are given virtual machines that have certain vulnerabilities, which the students must remove.

“I wish to congratulate our Cyberpatriot award winners from Leilehua High School. Their hard work and dedication have made Hawaii proud and are a reminder that the Hawaii Department of Education’s JROTC program is among the best in the country,” stated U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye. “We have strong mentors in Hawaii with tight ties to our military and cutting edge technology firms.”