Thanks to a national competition, Meaghan Neill discovered a passion for cyber security.

At the end of her first-ever National Cyber League competition, Neill ranked as the top MacEwan participant and came in 143th place out of over 3,600 competitors.

"Cyber security is always changing," says Neill, a fourth-year computer science student in the Bachelor of Science. "There is always some new hack, exploit or vulnerability. The competition tests us on stuff that is both new and old, so it was a great experience, if a bit challenging."

Dr. Calin Anton, associate professor, added the National Cyber League (NCL) competition to his course, CMPT 480: Computer Network Security. The NCL competition challenges students in a safe environment to practice their skills in solving cyber security problems. The experience aims to prepare students for careers in cyber security and help them apply what they're learning.

"I've always had this worry that I won't actually be able to apply what I've learned in university once I get out into the real world," says Neill. "Since competing in NCL, those doubts just aren't there anymore."

If anything, she adds, NCL helped her better understand the concepts she was learning in class when she could actively apply them.

Competing both individually and as part of a team, Neill learned how to use new cyber security tools and gained a clearer understanding of her strengths and areas where she wants to improve.

And she's not finished yet — Neill is currently participating in the SANS Holiday Hack Challenge and Advent of Cyber, and has plans to compete in Cyber Sci in January.

If that wasn't enough to keep her busy, Neill is also the vice-president, internal for club.eh, a new ethical hacking club for MacEwan students. "We hope that it can be a place for people to be able to team up for provisional and national cyber security competitions. We have practice hacking questions every week, and we network with other community professionals."

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