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For Immediate Release
November 9, 2009
21 Teams Reach Medalist Flight in National High School Cyber Defense Competition
Arlington, VA – The Air Force Association (AFA) today announced that 21 high school teams topped the field to move up to the Medalist Flight of CyberPatriot II, likely the largest live high school cyber defense competition ever staged with an opening round of well over 100 Air Force Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (AFROTC) and Civil Air Patrol (CAP) teams from high schools from 42 states and Japan.
In a race against both the clock and their opponents, competitors had no more than six hours to find and correct vulnerabilities in a virtual network made possible by Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), and were tracked according to success and speed.
“Congratulations to the top 21 teams, and good luck to all the teams over the next two Saturdays of competition,” said S. Sanford Schlitt, AFA’s Vice-Chairman of the Board for Aerospace Education. “CyberPatriot II is proving to be a fantastic hands-on learning experience. It’s a great way to encourage new interest in this crucial career path.”
Next up, November 14, 2009, most of the original field, minus the top 21, will compete again simultaneously in a special consolation round against a new set of cyber defense problems. The top 15 teams will join the November 21 Medalist Flight for 36 teams in total.
On November 21, those 36 Medalist Flight teams will take on a much more complex virtual network and an entirely new set of vulnerabilities, with eight teams moving on to the coveted Championship Round, and an all-expenses-paid trip to Orlando, Florida.
The Championship Round will be February 19, 2010, in conjunction with AFA’s Air Warfare Symposium at the Rosen Shingle Creek Convention Center in sunny Orlando. There, they compete in the most complicated series of live challenges yet, against a “Red Team” opponent that will actively counter their defense strategies.
Using a commercial platform called CyberNEXS donated by SAIC, the final competition involves a series of cyber attacks while the teams attempt to defend and maintain service on a virtualized network of computers.
The competition benefits greatly through the advice and assistance of Dr. Greg White of the Center for Infrastructure Assurance and Security (CIAS), which also created and conducts the National Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition. Dr. White serves as a colonel in the Air Force Reserve in the field of cyber security.
Watch the website www.AFA.org for announcements and developments.
Below are the top 21 teams from the opening round:
- Huntsville High School, Huntsville, Alabama
- Catalina Magnet High School, Tucson, Arizona
- Civil Air Patrol Unit RMR-CO-030, Peterson AFB, Colorado
- F. W. Springstead High School, Spring Hill, Florida
- Lincoln Way East High School, Frankfort, Illinois
- Lincoln Way West High School, New Lenox, Illinois
- Parkway High School, Bossier City, Louisiana
- CAP Unit SWR-LA-008, Hammond, Louisiana
- CAP Unit NCR-MN-030, Bloomington, Minnesota
- Lafayette High School, Ballwin, Missouri
- North Henderson High School, Hendersonville, North Carolina
- CAP Unit MER-NC-022, Gibsonville, North Carolina
- Newburgh Free Academy, Newburgh, New York
- Rome Free Academy, Rome, New York
- CAP Unit NER-NY-288, Freeport, New York
- Billy Ryan High School, Denton, Texas
- Flower Mound High School, Flower Mound, Texas
- Boerne-Samuel V. Champion High School, Boerne, Texas
- CAP Unit SWR-TX-214, Combine, Texas
- Clearfield High School, Clearfield, Utah
- William Byrd High School, Vinton, Virginia
AFA Contact: Joel Hannahs 703.247.5847 or JHannahs@AFA.org.
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The AFA is a 501(C)(3), nonprofit organization promoting public understanding of aerospace power and the pivotal role it plays in the security of the nation. AFA has more than 200 chapters nationally and internationally representing 125,000 members. Visit AFA www.AFA.org.
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