UNT hosted the Southwest Regional College Cyber Defense competition March 23-25, 2007 at Research Park. This was one of five regional competitions in the nation and this was also the largest with ten teams competing. Each team consisted of eight members set up in separate rooms with six computers each, imitating a business network and web page with the goal of updating the network while protecting it at the same time for three days. A "red team" made up of five security specialists tried to disrupt the networks in several ways that simulated hacker attacks in the real world.

UNT's cyber defense team placed third overall in the competition and they also won an award from Cisco for utilizing its products the best. Texas A&M University's team won first place and they will advance to the national finals in May in San Antonio. The team from the University of Texas at San Antonio placed second.

This was the first time UNT had hosted the competition, giving the school's computer science program recognition in the region. Dr. Tate said, "It raises visibility and people got to come to UNT. Many people mentioned that they were very impressed with the way we did the competition and our facilities." Dr. Tate would like to thank the students in the picture below for their invaluable help before, during, and after the competition.