Nektarios Tsoutsos, Assistant Professor and Associate Director, Center for Cybersecurity, Assurance, and Privacy at the University of Delaware, and Dan Guido, co-founder and CEO of Trail of Bits, are members of a unique club. Both are former CSAW competitors who have continued to remain engaged with the event in some way. As a Ph.D.student in 2013, Tsoutsos captured first place in the 6th iteration of the Embedded Security Contest (ESC), and Guido became involved in the program as an undergraduate, back in the early days when CTF was the only CSAW competition.
To celebrate their ongoing affiliation and the many contributions both have made to CSAW over the years, CyberByte, the Center for Cybersecurity newsletter, interviewed Tsoutsos and Guido late in 2024 to find out why the competition remains such an important part of their lives. Along the way they shared some interesting thoughts on the evolution of CSAW and the positive outcomes they have witnessed for themselves and for the many students who followed in their footsteps. Below is a very brief excerpt from the interview. You can read the full story on pages 21-23 of the newsletter, which can be accessed at https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OE3T9-K3Yb_PA53fKgdmM8QyzoyrDIup/view.
CyberByte: As students, what initially drew you to CSAW?
Tsoutsos: Initially, what drew me was my deep interest in embedded systems and cybersecurity. At the time, I was already conducting research in these areas, so the competition felt like a natural extension of my academic interests. Additionally, it was very appealing to me that ESC was addressing real-world problems, and offered the opportunity to collaborate with like-minded peers.
Guido: I came to [what was then called] Polytechnic University specifically because of its strong cybersecurity program. Once on campus, I was immediately on the lookout for opportunities to engage with other students and professors in the field. That’s when I discovered CSAW in the fall of 2004. Vikram Padman, a former research technology specialist at Polytech and now a Cyber Security Systems engineer for Lockheed Martin, had set up a stand in the hallway recruiting participants for the contests. I’ve always thrived on competition—in high school I competed in football, wrestling, track, and baseball, and I had that same adversarial, competitive nature when it came to technology. I was eager to dive right into CSAW, and that’s really what attracted me to cybersecurity in the first place.
CyberByte: So now we know why you both “dived in,” the question becomes, what keeps you coming back each year?
Tsoutsos: I would say the vibrant community and the continuous innovation within the field are what keeps me coming back. CSAW is more than just a competition; it is a forum for exchanging ideas, networking with professionals, and staying updated on the latest advancements in cybersecurity. The ESC competition (for which Tsoutsos now serves as global lead) in particular, offers a unique platform to contribute to cutting-edge research that has real-world implications.
Guido: CSAW was very special to me during college. It was something I felt a sense of ownership over and represented one of my earliest experiences with entrepreneurial activity. What keeps me coming back is simply that it’s fun, and I enjoy seeing others succeed. I experience a sense of vicarious fulfillment watching students engage with the competition. You can really feel the drive, especially at the finals event. Everyone there has worked hard to earn their place. They’re passionate about the field, and those are the people I want to be around and support. I see my younger self in them.