| CyberPatriot in the Starting Blocks …
By the time the next AENewsletter is published, the Air Force Association will have conducted the largest simultaneous high school cyber defense competition ever. This one-of-a-kind competition will begin with an opening round on November 7, 2009, and involve nearly 200 teams in 42 states, D.C., and one DoD school in Japan!
“We’re excited to announce this unique, competitive learning experience,” said S. Sanford Schlitt, AFA’s Vice Chairman of the Board for Aerospace Education. “This is a dramatic expansion of the February 2009 CyberPatriot competition that demonstrated the concept to promote student career interest in cyber security and other science, technology, engineering and mathematics career fields.”
The competition enjoys the advice and assistance of Dr. Greg White of the Center for Infrastructure Assurance and Security (CIAS) at the University of Texas-San Antonio. Dr. White created and conducts the National Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition and serves as a colonel in the Air Force Reserve in the field of cyber security.
On November 7, 2009, the entire field will simultaneously step up to their computers, type in a password and begin a race to the finish solving a series of cyber defense problems. Using a commercial platform called CyberNEXS donated by Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), the competition replicates real life situations faced by computer administrators on a daily basis. Teams have up to six hours to correct 100 percent of the vulnerabilities in a virtual network, and will be ranked according to their success and speed with the SAIC system remotely tracking their progress.
The top 24 teams from the November 7 competition move on to the November 21 semifinals, with a much more complex virtual network and an entirely new set of vulnerabilities. Also participating in the semifinals will be one “wild card” winner from a November 14 consolation competition for teams not in the top 24 on 7 November.
From the 25 qualifying teams, the November 21 semifinals will determine the final eight teams to receive an all-expense-paid trip to Orlando, Florida, for the February 19, 2010, championship round, in conjunction with AFA’s Air Warfare Symposium at the Rosen Shingle Creek Convention Center. There they will compete on identical equipment on a system incorporating the most complicated series of live challenges yet, against an active “Red Team” opponent that will attempt to counter their defense strategies.
Return to the
Table of Contents or go to the Next Article
The Air Force Association (AFA) is an independent, nonprofit IRS 501(c)(3) organization.
This newsletter is published monthly via e-mail. Submissions or comments should be sent to AENewsletter@afa.org. |
