The spring season of the National Cyber League (NCL) has completed with the Bellevue University team securing the number 45 spot out of 451 competing Universities and Colleges. This is the highest ranking the Bellevue Team has achieved across its 10 seasons of play.   

The NCL has two seasons each academic year, one during the Fall term and one during the Spring term. Each season is made up of a preseason game where students practice skills, an individual game where students compete individually, and a team game where students are placed on teams of up to seven individuals and compete as a group. The games are known as Capture the Flag style competitions where students win a flag for solving a challenge related to cybersecurity. Challenges fall into categories such as Open-Source Intelligence, Cryptography, Password Cracking, Log Analysis, Network Traffic Analysis, Wireless Access Exploitation, Forensics, Scanning, Web Application Exploitation, and Enumeration & Exploitation. Competitions generally start around noon on a Friday and end the following Sunday evening.

The national ranking, known as the power ranking, is based on a school’s top performing team during the team game, the school’s top performing student during the Individual Game, and the number of participating students from the school, with additional consideration given to better student performance during the Individual Game. Bellevue will again be participating in the Fall 2023 NCL and looking for students interested in improving their cybersecurity skills in a hands-on, competitive environment. The competition is open to all undergraduate and graduate students, not just those pursuing a cybersecurity degree. Look for announcements on joining for the Fall season to be made in late August. Interested students can contact Associate Professor Doug Rausch for more information on the competition.