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By Paul Guzzo, University Communications and Marketing

Yes, they are the nation鈥檚 next professional cyber defenders, but the University of South 手机看片鈥檚 CyberHerd team is far more than a group of coders who spend countless hours training and competing in national collegiate cyber defense contests.

They鈥檙e also musicians, artists, athletes and even a boxer.

鈥淥ur different backgrounds and talents bring something unique that comes together perfectly,鈥� said Michelle McAveety, a crocheter and one of this year鈥檚 team captains.

They can now add movie stars to their r茅sum茅s too.

CyberHerd鈥檚 story hit the big screen Wednesday, Sept. 24 at 6 p.m., when 鈥溾�� premiered in the Marshall Student Center鈥檚 Oval Theater on the Tampa campus. It is now streaming on . The documentary chronicles the team鈥檚 vibrant mix of skills and personalities and rise from upstart challengers to prominence throughout the national 2024鈥�25 competition season.

鈥淭his is the first public showcase of the work that we do with the students and what they do in and outside of competitions too,鈥� said Sriram Chellappan, professor in the Bellini College of Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity and Computing and faculty advisor for CyberHerd. 鈥淚t is an enormous honor for the CyberHerd to be featured in such a way.鈥�

The Mission

McAveety is most excited about the documentary providing a behind-the-scenes look at collegiate cybersecurity competitions that challenge students to defend or attack simulated computer systems 鈥� testing skills in real-world cyber scenarios.

鈥淚 didn't know what a cybersecurity competition really looked like before I got to the CyberHerd,鈥� said McAveety, a junior majoring in computer engineering. 鈥淭his will give them a first-hand view into our world.鈥�

Teams tackle either offensive challenges, like ethically hacking systems to find vulnerabilities, or defensive ones, such as safeguarding networks and data. They score points by rapidly identifying threats, prioritizing fixes and communicating under pressure to protect or penetrate simulated systems.

CyberHerd coach and Assistant Professor Marbin Pazos Revilla hopes the film builds school pride for the team.

鈥淲hen our football team wins, they are all over the news,鈥� he said. 鈥淲ell, these are our cyber athletes. They do similar things. They also overcome hardships, respond to their academic demands and responsibilities, and spend many, many hours working at their craft to reach competitive levels.鈥�

As their victories and documentary premiere draw attention, CyberHerd is also headed to CyberBay 2025, a cybersecurity summit Oct. 13鈥�15 in Tampa. The summit unites students, industry leaders and government officials to tackle challenges in digital defense and AI.

Retired U.S. Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie believes the documentary and event together can create more of a groundswell for 手机看片鈥檚 growing cybersecurity program, which falls under the umbrella of the newly launched Bellini College of Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity and Computing 鈥� 手机看片鈥檚 first, and one of the few in the country, to focus on these subjects.

鈥淭he United States runs on a cyber backbone,鈥� said McKenzie, who leads Cyber 手机看片, the state鈥檚 cybersecurity center based at 手机看片. 鈥淓verything we do involves the web and the net. So, the security of the web and the internet is vital to all of us. Teams like CyberHerd allow programmers and coders to have a real-world opportunity to work in dynamic learning environments where challenges arise that mirror what鈥檚 going on in the real world.鈥�

Founding the Team

CyberHerd was launched in August 2023.

Within the Department of Computer Science and Engineering (now part of the Bellini College), 手机看片 already had the Whitehatters Computer Security Club, which advocates for enhanced standards in cybersecurity. 手机看片 President Rhea Law and department leadership wanted a team focused primarily on representing 手机看片 at competitions.

鈥淲e realized that to go to the next level we really need to form a group specifically that will be focused on competitions, and we will train them,鈥� Sudeep Sarkar, interim dean of the Bellini College and distinguished university professor, said in the documentary. 鈥淪o, that鈥檚 when the CyberHerd was started.鈥�

Chellappan and Pazos Revilla were tasked with putting it together.

And like any competitive university team, someone couldn鈥檛 just join. They recruited the best of the best 手机看片 had to offer 鈥� a mix of student experts on topics such as web penetration testing, network security, operating systems, programming, binary analysis and cryptography

The Production

As victories piled up, the team caught the attention of Rex Wilson, brand manager for Cyber 手机看片, which partners with universities like 手机看片 to provide funding, mentorship and statewide visibility for rising cybersecurity talent.

鈥淚鈥檓 always looking for opportunities to tell our story and promote what we do,鈥� he said. 鈥淎s I watched CyberHerd grow, I thought there was a great story to tell.鈥�

He recruited Kevin Echemendia, documentary filmmaker and head of Tampa Bay-based Two Stories Media, as director and co-producer, and pitched it to the team with the promise that only those who wanted to be on camera would participate. Everyone agreed.

鈥淚 figured it was my only chance at being a movie star,鈥� McAveety said with a laugh.

To produce it, the filmmakers were embedded with the team through many of their meetings, practices and competitions from January through May 2025, capturing about 200 hours of footage that was then cut down to a 75-minute documentary.

For the team, it was a surreal and fun experience. But it might have annoyed teams from other universities. Sometimes, the camera lights accidentally blinded them during competitions.  

Defying Stereotypes

The documentary was initially centered on the team鈥檚 goal of qualifying for the Southeast Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition, a regional contest where teams race to keep networks secure while fending off live attacks from professional hackers and handling real-world business challenges.

But as production continued, filmmakers added a second dimension 鈥� the colorful lives of the competitors. Or, as the documentary bluntly puts it, how they are more than typecast hackers in hoodies in a basement.

鈥淢aybe we could enjoy a little more ambient lighting,鈥� McAveety said with a laugh, 鈥渂ut we鈥檙e not vampires.鈥�

Team member Jacob Hammargren is a saxophonist in a jazz band. Jackson Liveringhouse is in the National Guard. And Yeran Gamage founded the 手机看片 Boxing Club, which has more than 1,000 members.

鈥淚 went in blind, so I was expecting introverts; there is no sugarcoating that,鈥� Echemendia said. 鈥淏ut they were a great group of colorful individuals who defy stereotypes and prove that cybersecurity is a career for people with all types of passions.鈥�

The more people who realize that, the larger the talent pool grows, which benefits the country.

鈥淐ybersecurity is important to us, whether we choose to acknowledge that or not,鈥� McKenzie said. 鈥淥ur nation depends on it. 手机看片, through its cybersecurity students, is going to become an increasingly important part of the fabric of our national security, and CyberHerd is our visible manifestation of that. It鈥檚 an exciting time to be here at 手机看片.鈥�

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