National Youth Cyber Security Challenge Draws in More Than 1,000 Teams

October 18, 2011 · Filed Under Software News · Comment 

CyberPatriot IV, the National High School Cyber Defense Competition, has now drawn in 1,019 teams as registration closed October 8. The competition has teams representing all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and U.S. Department of Defense Dependent Schools in both Europe and the Pacific.

Established by the Air Force Association (AFA), CyberPatriot is the nation’s largest and fastest growing high school cyber security challenge. Last year’s competition had more than 660 teams vying for a chance to compete among the top qualifying teams. Its unique structure provides students hands-on learning while competing virtually against their peers and introduces many to the idea of cyber security as a profession.

Teams are now preparing for preliminary online rounds of competition, which begin October 28 for the All Service Division and November 4 for the Open Division. Once the preliminaries begin, hundreds of teams compete online to solve vulnerabilities in simulated computer networks. The top teams compete again in two additional online rounds to determine 24 finalist teams who win all-expenses-paid trips to Washington, D.C. and the National Finals Competition in Washington, D.C. in March 2012. Read more

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Five Teams Advance to Finals in National Cyber Competition

February 19, 2011 · Filed Under Software News · Comment 

After four exciting rounds of competition and nearly five months of preparation, five All Service teams have advanced to the finals of CyberPatriot III, the nation’s largest high school cyber defense competition.

Today, CyberPatriot concluded its two-day semifinal round for the competition’s All Service Division – comprised of Junior ROTC units of all Services and Civil Air Patrol squadrons – at the Rosen Shingle Creek Resort in Orlando, Florida, where 12 teams competed for the five spots in the finals.

Congratulations to the advancing teams:

  • Ramona High School, Navy JROTC, Ramona, Calif.
  • Montachusett Regional Vocational Technical School, Marine JROTC, Fitchburg, Mass.
  • Clearfield High School, Air Force JROTC, Clearfield, Utah
  • Buena High School, Army JROTC, Sierra Vista, Ariz.
  • Orlando Cadet Squadron, Civil Air Patrol, Orlando, Fla. Read more

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51 ‘Open’ Teams Qualify for Round 3 in National Cyber Defense Competition

December 16, 2010 · Filed Under Software News · Comment 

The Air Force Association congratulates the 51 teams of the Open Division who have advanced to the next round of CyberPatriot, the nation’s largest and fastest-growing cyber security challenge.

CyberPatriot, an education initiative produced by the Air Force Association, is a one-of-a-kind cyber defense competition, providing high school students hands-on learning about cyber security.

The two-track competition has teams registered from public, private, parochial and home schools in the Open Division while JROTC units of all Services and Civil Air Patrol squadrons fill the All-Service Division.

During the latest Open Division competition on December 11, student teams continued to learn how to improve and strengthen computer infrastructures and reduce risks of intrusion – all while virtually competing against their peers. Teams were scored based on how quickly and effectively they found and corrected weaknesses in simulated computer networks. Read more

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National High School Cyber Defense Competition Exceeds 450 Teams

September 26, 2010 · Filed Under Security Software, Software News · Comment 

Registration for Cyber Security Education Initiative Remains Open until Oct. 8

The Air Force Association announced today that CyberPatriot now has more than 450 teams registered to participate in the premier high school cyber defense competition.  Only Iowa, Montana and Wyoming have yet to join the contest.

CyberPatriot is the nation’s largest and fastest-growing high school cyber defense competition. With 47 states, Puerto Rico and U.S. Department of Defense Dependent Schools in Japan and Korea already represented, word is getting out to high school educators across the country. Teams have registered from public, private, parochial and home schools in many states in the competition’s Open Division. Additionally, Junior ROTC units of all Services and Civil Air Patrol squadrons are rapidly filling the All-Service Division in the two-track competition.

CyberPatriot provides students interactive learning while competing virtually against their peers. Teams of five, with an approved coach (usually a teacher), learn to defend computer networks from real-life computer threat scenarios. In the preliminaries, hundreds of teams compete online using software  provided by CyberPatriot to competitively solve vulnerabilities in a network. The top teams then compete again in a series of online rounds to determine the finalists for an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, DC and the Championship Round at the Gaylord National Convention Center in April 2011. Read more

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National High School Cyber Defense Competition Registering Teams for Fall

August 17, 2010 · Filed Under Internet Software, Security Software, Software News · Comment 

Exciting Education Initiative Offers Teens Insight to Cyber Careers

The registration deadline is looming to participate in the nation’s premier high school cyber defense competition, CyberPatriot III.

“Our unique online competition still has room for teams,” said Bernie Skoch, CyberPatriot Commissioner. “To join, a high school teacher signs up and signs on five bright students for a fun, hands-on learning opportunity. It’s a great chance for the top teams to win scholarship money and a trip to Washington, D.C.”

CyberPatriot, presented by Northrop Grumman, is the one-of-a-kind national cyber security competition produced by the Air Force Association (AFA), a nonprofit organization headquartered near Washington, D.C. The registration deadline is October 8, 2010.

Teams of five, with an approved coach (generally a teacher) sponsoring them, learn to defend a computer network from real-life computer threat scenarios. In the fall, hundreds of teams across the nation will square off online, using special software and programs provided by CyberPatriot, to competitively solve vulnerabilities in their network. The top teams then compete again in a series of online rounds to determine finalists for an all-expenses-paid trip to the nation’s capital and the Championship Round at the Gaylord National Convention Center, in conjunction with AFA’s Cyber Futures Symposium and Technology Exposition in April of 2011. Read more

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