The US Cyber Challenge conducted by Cyber Foundations is in the search of the next big thing, or student, in cyber security. The competition will last over two months and will have over 2000 student participants from 169 schools, 32 states and 3 US Territories. Students will compete to be one of the five students with the best aptitudes for online security in the nation.
How it Works
The competition is an entry-level competition – which basically means that any student can participate, regardless of whether or not they have past computer classes or instruction. Participants receive on-line tutorials and video education materials for computer science’s foundational fields of networking, operating systems, and system administration. After the tutorials they will then undertake quizzes to prove their mastery of the topic. There will be three separate tests administered on October 24, November 4 and November 18. Finally, the top-scoring five students will receive scholarship money anywhere from 2500 dollars to 500 dollars – and the recognition of the entire nation.
An Innovative Solution to a Urgent Need
Congressman Jim Langevin, who co-founded the Congressional cyber security Caucus and helped to launch the competition in Rhode Island says, “This competition is a fun and innovative way to help meet the urgent need to develop young talent in the cyber security field, which remains woefully lacking in top professionals… The Center for Internet Security has created an ideal model for partnering education, business and government to improve the cyber workforce.”
The competition also hopes to provide financial resources to the winning students (in the form of the scholarships) in a nation where higher education is only becoming more and more expensive, and many are unable to attend because of their financial situations. Erle Hall, Public Services Industry Sector Lead, California Department to Education, states, “at the present time educational options for poor and middle class students are few and far between. Public school budgets are being slashed at the same time that the cost of college is skyrocketing. In this most severe environment, Cyber Foundations is one of the few beacons of educational opportunity for students from modest backgrounds.”
Everyone is a Fan
The competition has already doubled in the number of participants since last year – this year there is over 2000 while last year there was just 1000. The cause for this enthusiastic reception is likely because it appeals to everyone.
Alan Paller, Director of Research at the SANS Institute, explains it this way, “[students] see this [competition] as a cool way to get involved in technology and it’s fun… Their parents say they like it because it prepares their children for the fastest-growing high-paid careers in the United States. The teachers like it both because it doesn’t demand that they spend a lot of time preparing… and also because teachers whose kids do especially well get scholarships to the advanced cyber security training – something they would never have been able to afford without Cyber Foundations.”