Author: Bob Weiss April 25, 2016 0 Comments

Cyber Security competitions are a great way to help students gain interest in the security profession and STEM careers in general.  Here are two ongoing competitions that we can actively support as mentors in the fields:

• CyberPatriot (www.uscyberpatriot.org) – Part of the National Youth Cyber Education Program, the CyberPatriot Competition just completed its 8th annual competition with national finals for middle school, high school, and youth service divisions.  There were no Minnesota teams represented at the finals, so that’s an opportunity knocking at our door.  Team coaches throughout the Metro area would love to have you as a technical mentor!
• Minnesota Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition (http://advanceitmn.org/collegiate-cyber-defense-competitions-ccdc) – The CCDC is a joint effort of Mn(C)3 (the Minnesota Cyber Careers Consortium), Minnesota Innovation Lab, and Advance IT Minnesota.  Ten higher education institutions had teams compete in 2015, and the top 3 teams will be recognized at Secure360 this year.  Information about the 2016 CCDC program will be coming out soon, with details about how you can be involved in Judging (White Team), IT & Site Hospitality (Black Team), Administration (Gold Team), or Professional Hacking (Red Team).

This is a really enjoyable way for us to ensure that young students are getting grounded in the IT field…so Game On!  (please contact [email protected] to express your interest)