21 Feb BSC cyber student secures internship at Palo Alto Networks in national cyber competition
Bismarck State College Cybersecurity and Computer Networks student, Riley Mueller, was a top 10 finisher in the first Palo Alto Networks Secure the Future Competition – a grueling months-long national competition against dozens of cybersecurity students from universities across the nation. Other finalists came from four-year universities like Ball State University, Murray State University and East Carolina University.
Additionally, the sophomore was one of five finalists to land a prestigious paid summer internship at Palo Alto Networks corporate headquarters in Santa Clara, Calif.
According to Palo Alto Networks, the Secure the Future Competition is designed to teach students how to “make decisions regarding protection of operational assets through the analysis, comparison and selection of advanced security tools, methodologies and implementation options.”
A 2018 graduate of Legacy High School in Bismarck, Mueller attends BSC full time and works 30 hours per week as an intern at National Information Solutions Cooperative (NISC) in Mandan. The competition required another 15-20 hours of effort each week from Sept. 1 through early January.