SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. – The practice of managing and protecting information in today’s world of technology has gone well beyond the disciplines of science, law and engineering. It’s now a competition among institutions of higher education.

A team of Cal State San Bernardino students captured first place in the computer forensics category of the 15th annual Information Technology Competition on April 16 at Cal Poly Pomona.

The advanced skills competition featured competitors from throughout the Inland Empire and Los Angeles County, and was judged by information technology professionals.

“This competition is very challenging and requires technical and policy skills,” said Tony Coulson, CSUSB professor in the information and decision sciences department and a team coach. “The CSUSB Information Assurance program is nationally recognized, and for good reason. We have a lot of talented students in information management and cyber security (information assurance).”

Cal State San Bernardino fielded three teams for the competition. Sponsored by the university’s Information Assurance and Security Management Center and Information and Decision Sciences Department, the teams competed in Business Systems Analysis and Computer Forensics categories. The ITC competitors came from many regional universities, including Cal Poly Pomona, Cal State Northridge, UCLA, and UC Irvine.

The first-place computer forensics team encompassed elements of law, policy and technology to determine the type of crimes that were on a suspect’s computer evidence. The team used specialized tools for forensics investigation and had to present findings to a panel of experts from the legal and technical community.

The Cal State San Bernardino students will divide a $1,000 cash prize.

“Our teams performed extremely well,” said Walt Stewart, a CSUSB professor of computer forensics. “When the judges asked if our students had worked in the law or forensics profession, I knew they had fully demonstrated their abilities.”

The CSUSB Business Systems Analysis team took second place and another computer forensics team placed third in their respective categories.

The annual Information Technology Competition invites students from California universities to compete in one of four business cases by providing a solution to specific cases.

The competition gives students the opportunity to showcase their talents and skills in front of industry professionals, creating an experience that helps students prepare for the corporate business world, develop their professional network and increase their knowledge of the information technology field.

Cal State San Bernardino’s Information Assurance and Security Management program and Information Management program are designated as part of the Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance education, as bestowed by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the National Security Agency. In addition, CSUSB’s programs are among the 30 schools nationwide that are part of the National Science Foundation’s Federal Cyber Service: Cybercorps scholarship program.

For more information about the program, contact Tony Coulson at (909) 537-5768 and visit the Information Assurance and Security Management Center’s website.

For more information about Cal State San Bernardino, contact the university’s Office of Public Affairs at (909) 537-5007 and visit news.csusb.edu.

A team of Cal State San Bernardino students captured first place in the computer forensics category of the 15th annual Information Technology Competition on April 16 at Cal Poly