Georgia Tech Wins 5th Straight NSA Codebreaker Challenge
The United States Air Force's Cyber Operations Squadron was in a crisis. A sophisticated foreign adversary was threatening national security, and it was up to the National Security Agency to help.
This was the fictional scenario of the 2025 NSA Codebreaker Challenge, which was once again dominated by Georgia Tech students, faculty, and alumni. With a score of nearly 300,000 points, they took first among Division 1 schools.
“Georgia Tech continues to win this highly challenging competition each year because of our outstanding students and the excellence of the cybersecurity and privacy curriculum that has been developed by SCP faculty,” said Mustaque Ahamad, Interim Chair for the School of Cybersecurity and Privacy.
“Our courses provide not only foundational knowledge of the discipline, but also give students experience with tools and techniques that help them shine at this competition.”
One of the keys to Georgia Tech’s success is that it integrates the challenge into students’ coursework. Professor Taesoo Kim has included it in his CS 6265: Information Security Lab every year to give students real-life experience.
“The NSA Codebreaker Challenge highlights the strength of Georgia Tech’s cybersecurity program and the hands-on, mission-driven training our students receive. Through courses like CS 6265 and others like it, students apply advanced security concepts to real-world problems, reinforcing Georgia Tech’s long-standing excellence and leadership in cybersecurity education.”
This year was the first time the NSA broke the Codebreaker Challenge for colleges and universities into divisions based on the number of participants. The winners of divisions one, two, and three were considered the winners of the challenge. Georgia Tech was in the top division with 272 students, four instructors, 27 alumni, and two in the other category. The Institute had a total of 305 participants, the second largest in the competition.
The NSA Codebreaker Challenge is open to anyone with an email address from a recognized U.S. school or university. All players register and log in individually. Students, professors, and alumni can participate, but only students earn points and awards.
