CyberPatriot IV Begins Competition Season

PRESS RELEASE

ARLINGTON, Va., Oct. 26, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The first preliminary round for CyberPatriot IV's All Service Division begins this Friday, with 621 teams gearing up for the ultimate cyber game of the year!

Established by the Air Force Association (AFA), CyberPatriot is the nation's largest high school cyber security challenge. Its unique structure provides students hands-on learning about cyber defense and introduces many to the idea of cyber security as a profession.

Preliminary rounds for the competition are conducted online from the teams' home locations. Each team, made up of two to five students, will have six hours to seek out weaknesses in simulated computer networks and work to defend those networks from realistic threat scenarios. Teams are scored according to how quickly and effectively they establish and maintain secure networks. To accommodate the different time zones participating, there will be a 36-hour block to compete, starting Friday, October 28, at noon and closing at 11:59 p.m., Saturday, October 29, Eastern Daylight Time.

The scores from the first and second preliminary rounds will be aggregated to determine the top 36 teams who will advance to the third round. The top 12 qualifying teams then receive all-expenses-paid trips to the CyberPatriot National Championship Competition held in the Washington, DC area, in March