One of the university’s most dedicated Hack@UCF members will grace the commencement stage this fall, leaving a legacy that will benefit the cybersecurity community for years to come.
Jeffrey DiVincent ’23, a security engineer at Amazon’s Seattle office, is poised to become a two-time Knight, having graduated with his bachelor’s degree in computer science two years prior. He will graduate with a master’s degree in cyber security and privacy this fall. During his undergraduate and graduate years, he helped bring multiple national collegiate cybersecurity championships to UCF while working tirelessly to serve the members of the renowned Collegiate Cybersecurity Defense Club, also known as Hack@UCF.
DiVincent’s fascination with computers started at young age. As a self-proclaimed tinkerer, he found many ways to channel that energy. He “jailbroke” his own phone to program it as he saw fit. He created websites to streamline everyday tasks. And just for fun, he developed programs to check his grades in WebCourses.
“Computer science, to me, was the logical conclusion of my curiosity,” he says.
When it came time to choose a university, he knew he wanted to be involved with Hack@UCF. After touring the campus and meeting a few faculty members, DiVincent says he fell in love with UCF.
“It instantly felt like home in a way no other school did; it checked all of my boxes,” he says.
DiVincent excelled academically as a Burnett Honors Scholar and joined a number of student organizations, including Knight Hacks and the Themed Entertainment Association. When COVID hit and many clubs scaled back their activities, DiVincent focused all of his attention on Hack@UCF to keep it up and running. He took on more responsibilities and leadership roles each year, eventually serving as president of the club.
He’s competed in dozens of competitions with the UCF Collegiate Cybersecurity Competition (C3) Team, the majority of which took home first-place finishes, and many more through Hack@UCF and on his own. He was recruited to compete for the U.S. Cyber Team in 2023.
“The most valuable thing you learn in cybersecurity competitions are ‘soft skills:’ how to work in a team, how to manage stressful situations, how to write to a technical audience,” he says.
Though the competitions gave him a wealth of experience that landed him internships and his current job at Amazon, his top priority at Hack@UCF was championing cybersecurity education, both within Hack@UCF and to the broader cyber community.
DiVincent gave Hack@UCF members the ability to practice systems administration skills by helping create a private cloud for the club. He also put together SunshineCTF, a capture-the-flag or Jeopardy style competition open to any participant, giving the general public the opportunity to hone their skills in a competitive environment. This year, more than 1,300 teams participated in the two-day event.
He is most proud of helping establish what has become an iconic event for Hack@UCF: Horse Plinko.
“Horse Plinko is a love letter to cyber competitions,” he says.
While Hack@UCF boasts nearly 400 members, only a handful of them compete and travel with the C3 team. Horse Plinko, a cyberattack-simulation contest in which participants role-play as interns who defend a fictional company, was developed by Hack@UCF and the C3 team to give all club members the opportunity to compete in a cybersecurity competition.
“Horse Plinko was built to be competitive, but lighthearted,” DiVincent says. “It teaches important skills — including interpersonal skills — but it’s also goofy. The competitions we do with C3 have a lot of hours put into training and they are often as stressful as they are rewarding. Horse Plinko is NOT that. It’s a competition anyone can enjoy and learn from, especially if they don’t have experience. It’s educational, approachable, fun and rewarding.”
The original iteration of the contest was developed in just one month, during a rare semester the C3 team didn’t advance to the national level of a competition. With unexpected time on their hands, the C3 team and members of Hack@UCF worked together to develop an in-house contest that any member, regardless of skill level, could experience.
Coincidentally during this time, Hack@UCF also incorporated as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, enabling them to secure sponsors to scale the event. The timing could not have been more perfect to launch Horse Plinko. It started with a modest couple of dozen competitors at the onset and quickly grew into the club’s most popular event, attracting more than 100 competitors by the time DiVincent began his master’s degree.
And the rest, he says, is “Plink-story.” Horse Plinko participation has grown exponentially since it was first introduced in Spring 2023. Its last contest drew more than 250 competitors.
“Building something that gets a new generation of students passionate about cyber is magical, and my work on Plinko is some of the most rewarding work I’ve ever done in my life,” DiVincent says. “That’s the reason why I continue to be involved from the other side of the country. It’s also fun!”
DiVincent may be graduating soon, but his work with Hack@UCF isn’t over. He was drawn to UCF because of the club’s strong cybersecurity community, and he plans to continue to give back to the organization.
“Hack@UCF turned a curiosity into cyber into a career,” he says. “It got me connected with some of the most talented people I know, and my involvement landed me multiple internships. It taught me how to be a better communicator, how to present in front of large audiences, and how to write to a non-technical audience. It taught me how to work as a team, and to lead one. And it taught me that, even as I prepare to graduate, that there’s always more to learn.”
- Written by Bel Huston