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Air Force Association Names Champions of CyberPatriot V Contest
The Air Force Association, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting "public understanding of aerospace power and national defense," has named the winners of CyberPatriot V, a national high school cyber defense contest.
Team Void of Chantilly Academy in Chantilly, VA won first place in the Open Division, taking home the President's Trophy. The Devil Dogs of the Marine Corps Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps' Marine Military Academy from Harlingen, TX, were awarded first place and the Commander-in-Chief's Cup for the All Service Division.
Flying Bacon from Marshall Academy in Falls Church, VA took home second place in the Open Division, while the Invaders, also from Marshall Academy, came in third.
For the All Service Division, the Marine Raiders from Montachusett Regional Vocational Technical School of Fitchburg, MA came in second, while the CyberBears from La Cueva High School in Albuquerque, NM came in third.
The top three teams in both divisions will altogether receive $50,000 in scholarships from the Northrop Grumman Foundation.
Best in Service Awards went to:
The Cisco Networking Award went to the Big Sioux Composite Squadron of Brookings, SD, for the All Service Division. Summit Technology Academy in Lee’s Summit, MO, took home the award in the Open Division.
The competition, which is intended to urge students to venture into careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, drew 1,200 applications from all 50 states, as well as United States Department of Defense dependent schools in Canada, the Pacific, and Europe. The contest provided an Open Division for public, private, parochial, and home school teams, and an All Service Division for Junior ROTC, US Naval Sea Cadet Corps squadrons, and Civil Air Patrol squadrons.
For all three rounds of the competition, students had to find vulnerabilities to Windows or GNU/Linux operating systems on one to three virtual machines. The teams that found the most vulnerabilities advanced to the next round. CyberPatriot V held its semifinal round January 11-12, at which participating teams were tasked with strengthening computer networks to prevent them from being attacked by viruses and other threats.
Advancing teams attended the CyberPatriot National Finals Competition in the nation's capital March 14-16. The contest used SAIC's CyberNEXS cyber training and exercise model, and Cisco hosted a networking event at which teams were evaluated on "their ability to operate and secure a basic network."
For more information, visit uscyberpatriot.org.
About the Author
Tim Sohn is a 10-year veteran of the news business, having served in capacities from reporter to editor-in-chief of a variety of publications including Web sites, daily and weekly newspapers, consumer and trade magazines, and wire services. He can be reached at timothyjsohn@gmail.com and followed on Twitter @editortim.