Raymond James hosts next-generation cybersecurity talent at annual Capture the Flag event

Raymond James hosted its eighth annual Capture the Flag (CTF) cybersecurity challenge on October 5, welcoming teams of students from 14 colleges and universities. The annual event, aligned with Cybersecurity Awareness Month, is designed to educate and develop students’ skill sets while also introducing them to Raymond James’ culture. The event is a collaboration between the firm’s Information Technology (IT) and Campus Recruiting teams to help generate a pipeline of high-caliber information security talent nationwide.

This year’s participating universities included: Florida State University, Florida Tech, Johns Hopkins University, Purdue University, Saint Leo University, St. Petersburg College, University of Central Florida, University of Florida, University of Memphis, University of South Florida, University of Tampa, Utica College and the British Columbia Institute of Technology.

Congratulations to this year’s winning teams

• First place, winning $10,000 and the opportunity to be fast-tracked through our recruiting process: University of South Florida
• Second place, winning $5,000: Johns Hopkins University
• Third place, winning $2,500: Purdue University

About Capture the Flag

The teams worked throughout the day to complete multiple challenges based on real-world threat scenarios facing firms in the financial sector. During the event, students were evaluated on core Raymond James behaviors, as well as subject-matter passion, teamwork and collaboration. In addition to providing a hands-on educational opportunity, the CTF helps to identify top students for our IT Accelerated Development Program roles and IT internships.

While the competition was underway, the teams’ faculty advisors attended related cybersecurity panel discussions and presentations from Raymond James Information Security, and industry leaders and experts. The event included opening keynotes from Jack Zimmer, senior analyst in the Cyber Threat Center and former CTF winner, and Raymond James & Associates Chief Operating Officer Patrick O'Connor. Thomas Wagner, managing director, financial services operations and technology at the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA), provided a closing keynote following the event.

Thank you

A special thank you to participating schools and faculty, as well as this year’s event sponsors: Black Hills Information Security, Splunk, Hashicorp, NetSPI, Resolve, Box, Palo Alto Networks, Intel, Insight, Rubrik, Anomali and CDW.

Raymond James is not affiliated with the list of event sponsors.

About Raymond James's Information Technology department

Information Technology supports the firm through a variety of strategic solutions that offer greater business efficiency, ensure data security and privacy, and support new business opportunities. Positions run the gamut from software engineers to project managers, analysts and more.

IT Recruiting 

IT at Raymond James constantly strives to recruit strong talent to protect the firm and our clients’ data from nefarious threat actors and advisories. Raymond James has a very successful program already in place called Accelerated Development Program, targeted at recruiting top undergraduate and graduate talent with leadership potential.