Xinyue Huang, a graduate student in the Johns Hopkins University Information Security Institute’s Master of Science in Security Informatics program, clinched first place among all participants at the three locations of the Amazon x Women in CyberSecurity (WiCyS) Capture the Flag (CTF) competition in November. Huang traveled to Amazon’s Washington, D.C. office, one of three locations across the United States, for the two-day, individual competition.

Xinyue Huang, left, receiving her award at the WiCyS event.

Last year, Huang applied for a WiCyS student scholarship, which covered her membership fee to the group; this is the first year she applied to participate in the CTF competition.

The event featured various challenges across a range of topics including web security, cryptography, forensics, and exploitation. Huang explains that the CTF was highly competitive, with the top positions constantly shifting throughout the day.

She says her experience in the MSSI program prepared her for the challenges that she faced during the competition, as she was able to rely on her deep understanding of web vulnerabilities and exploitation to think critically and adapt to the various scenarios. Huang shares that before she began the MSSI program, she did not know much about reverse engineering until she took a software vulnerability analysis course with Reuben A. Johnston.

Huang additionally leaned on experiences she’s had at past CTF events, as well as her Offensive Security Certified Professional certification, a technical ethical hacking certification that teaches various testing methodologies and tools.

Throughout the competition, Huang enjoyed networking and learning from professionals on Amazon’s security team. Ruohua Chen, also a student in the MSSI program, participated in the WiCyS CTF event at Amazon’s New York City location. Chen placed eighth overall in the competition.