WHO WE ARE
of, relating to, or characteristic of the culture of computers, information technology, and virtual reality
Cyber
Aegis
the protection, backing, or support of a particular person or organization
We are a team consisting of Oak Valley Middle School, Design 39 Campus and Del Norte High School students, collectively known as CyberAegis. Much of our program is student lead. This means the team grows depending on the the dedication and effort put by the students. From organizing meetups to teaching the class, there are many lessons beyond cybersecurity that the students learn, such as the importance of collaboration, teamwork, and leadership. This is a great sandbox for students to try out and improve these skills. Aside from competitions, the program also allows students to tour multiple fields surrounding cyber defense.
What are some of the competitions?
In addition to The CyberPatriot National Youth Cyber Education Program, Securing our eCity and NDIA have been conducting a cybersecurity competition in San Diego for about 10 years. It was originally called the San Diego Mayor’s Cup. The LAUSD has also been conducting competitions for years and we competed at CyberDay LA. California Governor Brown’s business development office, GoBiz, wants to encourage cybersecurity business in California, and they started a California state round called California Cyber Innovation Challenge (CCIC). The LAUSD competition and Mayor’s Cup, along with two other competitions, became the 4 qualification competitions for CCIC. Consequently, the Mayor’s Cup was renamed to the SoCal Cyber Cup Challenge (SCC). Along with that CyberAegis competes in the MITRE Embedded Capture the Flag competition which is an annual competition in which embedded system cybersecurity is tested. Teams implement secure systems and then search for weaknesses in other teams’ designs. Students learn skills such as cryptography, reverse engineering, and secure coding practices.
What we stand for
We believe everyone should receive equal opportunity to learn and participate regardless of race, gender, or religion. We are especially proud to advocate for girls in the male dominated field of technology by closing the gender gap in our team.
The Team
Meet the leaders
Paul Johnson
Coach/Mentor
Paul has worked at Hewlett-Packard and Qualcomm and is now working on US Department of Defense projects at Northrop Grumman. He holds a Master’s degree from Stanford University, is a PE and CISSP, and has seven U.S. and European patents. As a volunteer, Paul has coached middle and high school student teams, achieving twelve national champion teams in the last ten years while competing against over 5,000 teams each year.
Ethan Zhao
2024-25 President
Ethan is a Del Norte High School senior who enjoys researching and competing in cybersecurity. As a cybersecurity systems intern and co-founder of CyberCEO, he is one of only six high school students selected nationally for the 2023 National Cyber Signing Day Award and honored at the 2023 NICE K12 Cybersecurity Education Conference. Ethan is a 3-time CyberPatriot National Champion and has qualified for the CyberPatriot National Finals every year since 7th grade.
Advik Garg
Networking VP
Advik Garg, a Junior at Del Norte and VP of Networking at CyberAegis, has shown much dedication and success within the field of cybersecurity. Competing in and winning many CTFs, going to the CyberPatriot National Finals twice, and being his team’s MVP for the past 2 years in a row are just some of his achievements.
Srijan Atti
Linux VP
Junior at Del Norte and current intern at NASA Ames Research Center, Srijan Atti, is a national champion and the current vice president of Linux security who handles a team of 10 to provide all training material for over 100 competitors.
Yash Parikh
Windows vp
Yash Parikh is a sophomore at Del Norte High School who has won the CyberPatriot National Finals competition twice, leading his team as the captain for one of the years. He is passionate about cybersecurity and technology and has also spearheaded CyberAegis’s participation in the MITRE eCTF competition.
William Cheng
InfrastructurE
Will Cheng, a Junior at Del Norte and VP of Infrastructure at CyberAegis, and top Linux competitor for the past three years is advancing the future for cybersecurity. He has shown great dedication and hard-work with being a 2x CyberPatriot National Finalist and winning numerous cybersecurity awards and competitions.
Risha Guha
Competitions VP
Risha Guha is a sophomore at Del Norte High School with a passion for cybersecurity. She competed at the CyberPatriot National Finals all three years in her middle school, won the championship twice, and was the captain of the winning team once. Guha is actively involved in spreading cybersecurity awareness and education in her community through her confounding of the non-profit organization, CyberCEO.