A team of Northrop Grumman computer engineers was named the grand champion at a digital forensics competition hosted by the Pentagon’s Defense Cyber Crime Center.

The international contest saw 1,254 cyber teams from 49 countries and 49 U.S. states competing in 41 scenario-based exercises across five levels of difficulty, Northrop said Monday.

Northrop engineers worked on encryption and Windows system tools intended to safeguard information technology infrastructures, the company says.

“We are very proud of our world-class team of cyber professionals who have proven the importance of rapid innovation to address the ever-changing cyber threat,” said Jim Myers, Northrop Grumman Information Systems vice president and general manager for the cyber solutions division.

The company’s team also won first place in the competition’s commercial category.