First-Ever Web Application Attack Component Part Of College Cyber Defense Competition

PRESS RELEASE

San Antonio, TX " March 23, 2010 " Denim Group, an IT consultancy that develops secure software and helps organizations assess and mitigate risks with their existing software, announced today that it is contributing a first-ever web application-based attack component to the National Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition (NCCDC). The NCCDC, to be held April 16-18, exposes students to threats they will encounter in corporate IT environments upon graduation. With the addition of Denim Group's web application attacks, competitors will be exposed to more sophisticated threats that exist when sensitive software systems are exposed on the web. A related video may be viewed at: http://tinyurl.com/ydphkzd.

Each team in the competition is responsible for maintaining services on a network while attackers try to interrupt and deny these services to corporate users. Increasingly, employers are demanding that security professionals understand application-level threats, which was the motivation behind Denim Group donating the application scenario. These risks are confirmed by the SANS Institute, who has observed that more than 70 percent of hacker attacks worldwide target web applications.

"Having Denim Group participate in this event makes this competition even more invaluable because this is the first time we've been able to include application-level attack scenarios for these competitors to deal with," said Dwayne Williams, Associate Director " Special Programs at the Center for Infrastructure Assurance at the University of Texas at San Antonio. "The NCCDC is the national championship of many state level CCDC events, and so the competitors here are the best of the lot, ready to take on complex challenges."

"The national trend is for more enhanced cyber security training - these application-level components help take the NCCDC's competition to a new level," said Dan Cornell, CTO of Denim Group. "The Rockefeller-Snowe legislation and Howard Schmidt, the White House Cyber Security Czar, have both emphasized the importance of realistic training for our next generation of cyber security professionals, and this contribution is in that spirit."

About Denim Group

Denim Group develops secure software, helps organizations assess and mitigate risk with existing software, and provides training on best practices in software security. Denim Group has worked with a range of Fortune 500 companies and public sector organizations, bringing a focused software development approach to the world of software security. Denim Group is a strong contributor to the larger application security community, and has been involved with the Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP) since shortly after its inception. Additionally, Denim Group was ranked 1,751 in Inc. Magazine's 5000 Fastest-Growing Private Companies in America in 2009. For more information about Denim Group, visit www.denimgroup.com.

About the NCCDC

The NCCDC is a three day event and the first competition that specifically focuses on the operational aspect of managing and protecting an existing "commercial" network infrastructure. The event gives students a chance to test their knowledge in an operational environment and network with industry professionals who are always on the look out for up-and-coming engineers. The NCCDC is an annual event that began in 2006 and the championship of the CCDC competition events at the state level. Up to 600 people compete in the CCDC state events, with more than 60 competitors making it to the NCCDC championship competition.

Reader Contact Information:

Denim Group, 3463 Magic Drive, Suite 315; San Antonio, TX 78229, Tel: 210-572-4400, Fax: 210-572-4401, www.denimgroup.com, [email protected].