DSU students earn national recognition in NSA Codebreaker Challenge
March 12, 2026
Two Dakota State University students earned national recognition in the 2025 National Security Agency (NSA) Codebreaker Challenge, demonstrating advanced skills in reverse engineering, web exploitation, programming, and cryptography.
Aaron Joiner (MS, cyber defense) and Brayden Borges (BS, cyber operations) successfully solved the 2025 challenge, an annual cybersecurity competition designed by the NSA to give students hands-on experience with real-world cyber and cryptography problems.
More than 6,000 students from 533 schools participated in this year’s challenge. Dakota State University ranked fifth in the Division I category, scoring 244,325 points and recording 177 student participants from a single university — a significant accomplishment in a highly competitive national field.
The NSA Codebreaker Challenge provides students with the opportunity to develop reverse engineering and cryptography skills through an experiential learning scenario. Participants explore the concepts, techniques, and tools used by cybersecurity professionals while solving complex technical challenges modeled after real-world missions.
“I am immensely proud of the 177 DSU students who participated in the NSA CodeBreaker Challenge,” said Andrew Kramer, assistant professor in The Beacom College of Computer & Cyber Sciences and Codebreaker Challenge faculty mentor. “Their work reflects the curiosity, determination, and technical skill that define our students. I am especially proud of Aaron and Brayden for successfully completing the entire challenge, an exceptional accomplishment given that CodeBreaker features some of the most difficult and advanced problems in the collegiate cybersecurity competition space.
“Their success demonstrates that DSU students are among the very best in the nation and are well prepared to tackle the complex cybersecurity challenges facing our world.”
The challenge also offers students a closer look at how technical experts across the NSA apply advanced knowledge to solve pressing national security problems in areas such as counterterrorism, information assurance, and military operational support.