Berke1337 (pronounced “berk–leet”) is UC Berkeley’s undergraduate cybersecurity club, hosted by the Center for Long-Term Cybersecurity. Since being revived in recent years, the club has placed much of its effort into teaching cybersecurity fundamentals to beginners and intermediate learners and those interested in getting into cybersecurity.
At its core, the club demonstrates its prowess by competing in online cybersecurity tournaments, namely Capture The Flag (CTF) competitions. These competitions typically involve Jeopardy-style challenges, organized by type and difficulty, with the goal of discovering a flag (such as a string of text) embedded in a problem, then turning it in to receive points.
The problems vary from solving cryptography challenges, to doing forensics on files, or collecting publicly available information through open-source intelligence gathering.
Last fall, Berke1337 placed Berkeley 7th in the National Cyber League Power Rankings, placing against institutions such as United States military academies, the SANS Institute, and other collegiate competitors. This experience has emboldened Berke1337’s members to continue competing and explore other areas of cybersecurity.
This year, Berke1337 has turned its focus on network security, or “blue teaming.” A blue team’s goal is to prevent unauthorized access to a network of machines and ensure the services those machines host are online. Typically, this involves the work of an adversary, a red team, to play the role of a threat actor and attempt to penetrate the network and take the services down. These simulations of cyberattacks are an effort to train Berke1337’s members in many of the real-world skills required as a cybersecurity analyst working in a professional context.
In order to train its members, Berke1337 has built 1337NET (leet-net), a small network of devices simulating a number of services . Members are tasked with learning how to maintain the services running in this training environment, as well as how to sustain them in the face of persistent cyber attacks orchestrated by other members. Formally, this process is known as purple teaming, where an organization has both defensive and offensive cybersecurity experts using a network as a sandbox for cyber attacks, testing both party’s skills.
In reality, the lab network consists of a handful of CLTC-sponsored equipment, donated items, and electronics salvaged from e-waste bins across campus. With the limited space on campus and the tight budget, the network runs using one member’s own infrastructure, as the devices currently have no permanent home on campus, a problem Berke1337 is hoping to solve soon. Despite these hardships, practice continues on a regular basis, and the club’s team hopes to have success in the upcoming National Collegiate Cybersecurity Defense Competition, where they will be going up against many other institutions for a chance to compete on the national stage.
As a registered student organization, Berke1337 is always looking for sponsors to help the team succeed. We are looking for mentors, partners, and financial aid from institutions looking to invest in our work. If you’re interested in sponsoring Berke1337, reach out to the Berke1337’s Head of External Relations Nicholas Perematko (nperematko@berkeley.edu) and feel free to visit our site https://berke1337.studentorg.berkeley.edu/.
