|
Cyber security is perhaps the most critical national security imperative for the U.S. today. No nation relies more on the Internet for its defense, economy and daily life—we are vulnerable to disruption or exploitation of those vital connections. The key to our protection lies in people. We need more science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)-educated citizens of all disciplines, but arguably we require talent in cyber security most of all.
This need was the reason the Air Force Association (AFA) decided to create CyberPatriot, the national high school cyber defense competition. First step was to prove the concept, and the CyberPatriot I competition held in conjunction with AFA’s February 2009 Air Warfare Symposium in Orlando, Florida, did that well. The next step was to prove the competition could go nationwide, and our pilot national deployment during the 2009-10 school year cleared that hurdle. We successfully conducted three online qualification rounds for nearly 200 AFJROTC/CAP units in 44 states, with eight finalist teams competing in the February 2010 championship in Orlando.
This year we are going to full national deployment, with up to 500 slots reserved in the “All Service” Division for JROTC units of all the Services and the Civil Air Patrol. In a separate, parallel competition we will have an Open Division available to up to 500 non-JROTC high schools nationwide. Both competitions will culminate at in-person championships at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center to be held on 1-2 April 2011 in conjunction with AFA’s CyberFutures Symposium and Technology Exposition.
A committed team of partners joined us to make CyberPatriot a reality. A generous grant from our Presenting Sponsor, Northrop Grumman, has made full national deployment possible. Founding Partners are the Center for Infrastructure Assurance and Security (CIAS) of the University of Texas at San Antonio (creator of the National Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition), and Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) (supplying their patent-pending CyberNEXS Cyber Defense Trainer as the platform for the competition). Strategic Partners General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems, Microsoft, and Raytheon also provide significant essential resources and multi-year commitments to the project.
Links
|
Air Force Association | Air Force Memorial | AFA Vetrerans Benefits Association | CyberPatriot HOME