Midshipmen engaged in a Cyber Defense Exercise (CDX) with wartime scenarios based on situations they may face in the Fleet. Mids were tasked with designing an impen-etrable network of computers, and hackers from the National Security Agency (NSA) then worked to break into the system. The CDX is designed to teach students how to protect and defend the nation’s information systems against cyber threats.

‘‘In addition to being a technical exercise, this is a leadership exercise,” said Lt. Col. Tom Augustine, CDX Officer Representative. ‘‘This exercise gives them challenges where they have to make decisions that could affect the whole team.”

In the past, teams had an unlimited amount of resources to use for their network, and hacking in was trouble-some for NSA. This year, to give the competition a ‘‘real world” feel, each team had the same amount of points, or currency, to spend on parts for their network.

Augustine said that in today’s operational military, sometimes the computer networks work, sometimes they do not. Sometimes the networks are secure, sometimes they are not. He said it would be great if the services had unlimited funding and material to rip out all the computers and put in new stuff whenever, but that is not the case. The services must work with the resources they have on hand.

Secure information technology is a major component of maintaining operational and strategic advantage, and exercises like CDX provide the teams with realistic training oppor-tunities.

The Midshipmen worked to get their equipment operational for most of the week. Using the technical expertise they acquired in their computer science classes throughout the year, the Mids worked to provide a secure network, preventing hackers from getting in.

Midn. 1⁄C Kyle E. Durrant, a computer science major, said this year’s team decided to rely on the Midshipman experts within the team to protect the network against invasion and keep it up and running.

‘‘Some people are experts at desig-ning the programs and some are better at solving the problems we will have,” said Durrant.

The team from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point won this year’s CDX, based on points awarded throughout the competition. In addition to West Point, the Midsh-ipmen competed against teams from the Air Force Academy, Coast Guard Academy, Merchant Marine Academy, Naval Post Graduate School, Services Postgraduate Educational Institution for Engineering and Technology, and two teams from the Air Force Institute of Technology.