MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- Graduate students from West Virginia University and the University of South Alabama have teamed up to win a computer-based security competition.

The students beat out 83 other teams in the graduate category of the 2012 Department of Defense Cyber Crime Center Digital Forensics Challenge.

The seventh-annual competition involved solving 23 challenges ranging from basic digital forensics to advanced tool development. The goal is to resolve issues and develop new and creative tools and techniques.

WVU team adviser Roy Nutter says the students were competing for the first time.

WVU computer science major Raymond Borges says the competition was a great way to learn the skills needed for cyber security in the real world.