National High School Cyber Defense Competition Registering Teams For Fall

PRESS RELEASE

ARLINGTON, Va., Aug. 16 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The registration deadline is looming to participate in the nation's premier high school cyber defense competition, CyberPatriot III.

"Our unique online competition still has room for teams," said Bernie Skoch, CyberPatriot Commissioner. "To join, a high school teacher signs up and signs on five bright students for a fun, hands-on learning opportunity. It's a great chance for the top teams to win scholarship money and a trip to Washington, D.C."

CyberPatriot,presented by Northrop Grumman, is the one-of-a-kind national cyber security competition produced by the Air Force Association (AFA), a nonprofit organization headquartered near Washington, D.C. The registration deadline is October 8, 2010.

Teams of five, with an approved coach (generally a teacher) sponsoring them, learn to defend a computer network from real-life computer threat scenarios. In the fall, hundreds of teams across the nation will square off online, using special software and programs provided by CyberPatriot, to competitively solve vulnerabilities in their network. The top teams then compete again in a series of online rounds to determine finalists for an all-expenses-paid trip to the nation's capital and the Championship Round at the Gaylord National Convention Center, in conjunction with AFA's Cyber Futures Symposium and Technology Exposition in April of 2011.

Any high school can field a team for the Open Division, while JROTC units from any service or Civil Air Patrol are also eligible to field a team for the All Service Division. The educational experience and materials are identical for students in either division.

"Cyber security is growing in importance, and will be an important career path," said Skoch, a retired Air Force Brigadier General. "CyberPatriot gives young people an inside look at an exciting field, and could lead to more options for a college educational track."

Coaches can learn more about CyberPatriotand sign up at www.uscyberpatriot.org. Information is also available from the CyberPatriot staff at [email protected].