CyberPatriot

Last updated
AFA CyberPatriot
Current season, competition or edition:
Sports current event.svg CyberPatriot XVI (2023-2024)
CyberPatriot Logo Modern Logo Version.png
SportCybersecurity (Defense and Hardening) (Basic skills and best practices, defending in RVB environment session - at the National Finals)
Founded2008
Inaugural seasonCyberPatriot I (2008-2009)
CommissionerBernie Skoch
Administrator Air Force Association
DivisionsAll Service, Open, Middle School
No. of teamsAll Service: 1885, Open: 3630, Middle School: 1245, Total: 6760 (CyberPatriot XII - 2019-2020)
CountriesUnited States and Limited International Countries
Sponsor(s)Northrop Grumman Foundation
Related
competitions
National Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition
Tournament formatOnline Rounds, National Finals Competition
Official website https://www.uscyberpatriot.org/

CyberPatriot is a national youth cyber education program created in the United States to help direct students toward careers in cybersecurity or another computer, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines. The program was created by the Air Force Association (AFA). It features the annual National Youth Cyber Defense Competition for high school and middle school students. It is similar to its collegiate counterpart, the Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition (CCDC), especially at the CyberPatriot National Finals Competition.

Contents

The National Youth Cyber Defense Competition is now in its fifteenth season and is called "CyberPatriot XV" indicating the season's competition. CyberPatriot XV is open to all high schools, middle schools, and accredited home school programs around the country. JROTC units of all Services, Civil Air Patrol squadrons, and Naval Sea Cadet Corps divisions may also participate in the competition. Outside of the regular competition, CyberPatriot also hosts two additional sub-programs: Summer CyberCamps [1] and an Elementary School Cyber Education Initiative. [2] The Northrop Grumman Foundation is the "presenting sponsor". A British spin off program is called Cyber Centurion.

History

CyberPatriot began in 2009 as a proof-of-concept demonstration at AFA's Air Warfare Symposium in Orlando, Florida. Four organizations were responsible for developing the competition: the Air Force Association, the U.S. Air Force, the defense contractor SAIC, and the Center for Infrastructure Assurance and Security (CIAS) at The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA). Eight high school teams, from AFJROTC and Civil Air Patrol squadrons, competed. The second phase of the program was limited to Air Force AFJROTC and Civil Air Patrol teams. Online training and qualification competitions were held during the fall of 2009 with nearly 200 teams from 44 states competing for eight slots in the first in-person National Finals Competition in February 2010, held in Orlando, Florida. The final phase of the developmental program, full national deployment, is now underway. Over 1,500 teams from all 50 states, Canada, and DoD Dependent schools overseas competed in CyberPatriot VI. CyberPatriot VII began in October 2014, with over 2,100 teams registered to compete. The Middle School Division was added in CyberPatriot V. CyberPatriot IX, which started in October 2016, featuring over 4,300 registered teams. The previous national commissioner who has served in that position since 2008, General Bernie Skoch, has retired in June 2021, and has been replaced by Acting National Commissioner Rachel Zimmerman, who has served in other leadership roles prior to her term as commissioner.

Goals and objectives

CyberPatriot is designed to be accessible to any high school or middle school student, provides a path from high school to college/workforce, and benefits all national CyberPatriot partners. The program increases the awareness of cybersecurity by delivering a basic education in a competitive format that enhances leadership, communication, and cooperation skills among its competitors.

Full Color Classic CyberPatriot Logo (Still used today in some materials, used more in the past including on CyberPatriot website) CyberPatriot Logo.jpg
Full Color Classic CyberPatriot Logo (Still used today in some materials, used more in the past including on CyberPatriot website)

Organization and preparation

Teams have the following members:

Each team is required to have a registered Coach and registered Competitors. Coach registration begins in the late spring to allow preparation over the summer. The qualification rounds of the competition are completed online at the teams’ home locations from September to early January.

Competition guidelines

The competition is a tournament structure with three divisions:

  1. Open High School Division: Open to all public, private, parochial, magnet, charter, home schools, and special groups such as CampFire, Boys & Girls Club, Boy Scouts, Church Youth Groups, Girl Scouts, etc.
  2. All-Service Division: Open to all JROTC Services, Civil Air Patrol squadrons, US Naval Sea Cadet Corps units. The registration fee is waived for teams competing in the All-Service Division
  3. Middle School Division: Open to all middle schools and junior high schools which follow the same common organizations as mentioned above in the Open High School Division.

The early rounds of the competition are done online during weekends via the Internet from teams’ schools or other sponsoring organizations’ facilities. Prior to the round, teams download virtual image representations of operating systems with known flaws, or cybersecurity vulnerabilities. Each team is tasked to find the flaws while keeping specified computer functions (services such as email) working. Team progress is recorded by a central CyberPatriot scoring system.

The scores from Qualification Rounds 1 and 2 are totaled to determine which tier a team advances to:

In CyberPatriot XIII, there are only 3 rounds total and round 1 will be held later than in CyberPatriot XII due to COVID-19 in order to give coaches more time to recruit (according to AFA email announcements), Round 3 determining the National Finalists teams.

Teams in the Platinum tier are the only teams eligible to qualify for National Finals.

See additional rules below:

National Finals Competition

The top-scoring Semifinal teams from each division, approximately 28 teams, are invited (all expenses paid) to the in-person National Finals Competition each spring. For CyberPatriot IV-VII, National Finals Competitions were held at the Gaylord National Hotel and Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland in March. From the CyberPatriot VIII season through the CyberPatriot XI season, the National Finals Competitions moved to the Hyatt Regency Baltimore Inner Harbor in Baltimore, Maryland, and were held in April of each year. Beginning in the CyberPatriot XII season, the National Finals Competition is planned to be held at the Bethesda North Marriott Hotel & Conference Center in Bethesda, Maryland outside of Washington, D.C., in March. However, the CyberPatriot XII In-Person National Finals Competition, which was the first planned year at the Bethesda North Marriott, was canceled due to the COVID-19 outbreak and a virtual, in-home competition was held online in May, about two months after the originally scheduled in-person competition event. The CP-XII Virtual National Finals was held on May 2, 2020, and marked the first-ever online virtual CyberPatriot National Finals Competition. Due to the widespread outbreak of COVID-19, the CyberPatriot XIII season has modifications to accommodate the delay in team administration as well as provisions for additional procedures for competing at home. Because the spread of COVID-19 in the US continued, some schools had restrictions on in-person activities, which was accounted for by arrangements for optionally staying home to compete as well as an organization type for registration.

The Challenges that teams may face include:

  1. Network Security Master Challenge, in which teams fix vulnerabilities in "images" of Operating Systems that have been purposely tampered with while protecting the "images" from "Red Team" which is a group of "hackers" that will exploit vulnerabilities on the competitor's machines.
  2. Leidos Digital Forensics Challenge, in which teams solve mysteries with computer programs.
  3. Digital Crime Scene Challenge, in which teams search a live "crime scene" for digital evidence.
  4. Cisco Networking Challenge, in which teams show their knowledge about Wiring, Cisco's Packet Tracer, and in a Cisco quiz.

Winning teams in the Open and All Service Division earn education grants to the school of their choice. First place teams earn $2,000 per competitor, second place teams earn $1,500 per competitor, and third place earns $1,000 per competitor. The scholarship money is provided by the Northrop Grumman Foundation. In CyberPatriot VII, for first, second, and third place, an additional $2,000, $1,500, and $1,000 were awarded to the teams, respectively, by the National Security Agency.

CyberPatriot Winners

All Service Division Winners [3]
YearSeasonTeam NameSchool/OrganizationCity
2009CyberPatriot IOsceola High School AFJROTC Osceola High School Kissimmee, FL
2010CyberPatriot IIClearfield High School Air Force JROTC Clearfield High School Clearfield, UT
2011CyberPatriot IIITeam WilsonOrlando Cadet SquadronOrlando, FL
2012CyberPatriot IVWolfpackColorado Springs Cadet SquadronColorado Springs, CO
2013CyberPatriot VMarine Military Academy Marine Military Academy Harlingen, TX
2014CyberPatriot VIOsceola High School AFJROTCOsceola High SchoolKissimmee, FL
2015CyberPatriot VIIFearsome FalconsClearfield High SchoolClearfield, UT
2016CyberPatriot VIIINetrunnersCenturion BattalionWinter Park, FL
2017CyberPatriot IXWolfpackColorado Springs Cadet SquadronColorado Springs, CO
2018CyberPatriot XCyber Warriors 0 Troy High School Navy JROTCFullerton, CA
2019CyberPatriot XIByte Sized Falcons Scripps Ranch HS Air Force JROTCSan Diego, CA
2020CyberPatriot XIIchmod 755 -r /srv/ftp/Anime/ Roosevelt High School Army JROTCSan Antonio, TX
2021CyberPatriot XIIIRuntime TerrorTroy High School Navy JROTCFullerton, CA
2022CyberPatriot XIVThe Terabyte Falcons Scripps Ranch HS Air Force JROTCSan Diego, CA
2023CyberPatriot XVRuntime TerrorTroy High School Navy JROTCFullerton, CA
Open Division Winners [3]
YearSeasonTeam NameSchool/OrganizationCity
2009CyberPatriot IN/AN/AN/A
2010CyberPatriot IIN/AN/AN/A
2011CyberPatriot IIIRed Bank Regional High School Red Bank Regional High School Little Silver, NJ
2012CyberPatriot IVAlamo AcademiesAlamo AcademiesSan Antonio, TX
2013CyberPatriot VChantilly AcademyChantilly AcademyChantilly, VA
2014CyberPatriot VIAzure North Hollywood High School North Hollywood, CA
2015CyberPatriot VIICyberSloths Grissom High School Huntsville, AL
2016CyberPatriot VIIISudoSummit Technology AcademyLee's Summit, MO
2017CyberPatriot IXTogoNorth Hollywood High SchoolNorth Hollywood, CA
2018CyberPatriot XTogoNorth Hollywood High SchoolNorth Hollywood, CA
2019CyberPatriot XITroy Tech SupportTroy High SchoolFullerton, CA
2020CyberPatriot XIICyberAegis Strange Quark II Del Norte High School San Diego, CA
2021CyberPatriot XIIICyberAegis CobaltDel Norte High SchoolSan Diego, CA
2022CyberPatriot XIVCyberAegis FlashpointDel Norte High SchoolSan Diego, CA
2023CyberPatriot XVCyberAegis TempestDel Norte High SchoolSan Diego, CA
Middle School Division Winners [3]
YearSeasonTeam NameSchool/OrganizationCity
2009CyberPatriot IN/AN/AN/A
2010CyberPatriot IIN/AN/AN/AHA
2011CyberPatriot IIIN/AN/AN/A
2012CyberPatriot IVN/AN/AN/A
2013CyberPatriot VN/AN/AN/A
2014CyberPatriot VICyber KnightsBeach Cities Cadet SquadronSan Pedro, CA
2015CyberPatriot VIITeam 1 Nysmith School for the Gifted Herndon, VA
2016CyberPatriot VIIICyberFalcon Millennium 360 Oak Valley Middle School San Diego, CA
2017CyberPatriot IXError 37Summit Lakes Middle SchoolLees Summit, MO
2018CyberPatriot XCyberAegis Cancer MinorOak Valley Middle SchoolSan Diego, CA
2019CyberPatriot XICyberAegis ChaosOak Valley Middle SchoolSan Diego, CA
2020CyberPatriot XIICyberAegis PolaritonDesign 39 CampusSan Diego, CA
2021CyberPatriot XIIICyberAegis TechnetiumOak Valley Middle SchoolSan Diego, CA
2022CyberPatriot XIVCyberAegis CobraDesign 39 CampusSan Diego, CA
2023CyberPatriot XVCyberAegis VitalisDesign 39 CampusSan Diego, CA

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States Air Force Academy</span> United States service academy in El Paso County, Colorado,

The United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) is a United States service academy in El Paso County, Colorado, immediately north of Colorado Springs. It educates cadets for service in the officer corps of the United States Air Force and United States Space Force. It is the youngest of the five service academies, having graduated its first class 64 years ago in 1959, but is the third in seniority. Graduates of the academy's four-year program receive a Bachelor of Science degree and are commissioned as second lieutenants in the U.S. Air Force or U.S. Space Force. The academy is also one of the largest tourist attractions in Colorado, attracting approximately a million visitors each year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Technology Student Association</span> Student organization focused on STEM fields

The Technology Student Association (TSA) is a national student organization created to develop skills in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and business education. TSA's aim is to develop leadership, academic, and business management skills in the workplace among students and leaders within the community. The organization has over 300,000 members.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NCAA Rifle Championship</span> Annual co-educational rifle national collegiate championship

The NCAA Rifle Championship is an annual co-educational rifle national collegiate championship sponsored by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The tournament includes an individual and team championships consisting of the two-day aggregate scoring of the smallbore competition and air rifle competition. The national championship rounds are contested annually in mid-March. West Virginia (19) and Alaska (11) have combined to win 30 of the 43 team championships. Unlike many NCAA sports, only one National Collegiate championship is held each season with teams from Division I, Division II, and Division III competing together.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Science Bowl</span>

The National Science Bowl (NSB) is a high school and middle school science knowledge competition, using a quiz bowl format, held in the United States. A buzzer system similar to those seen on popular television game shows is used to signal an answer. The competition has been organized and sponsored by the United States Department of Energy since its inception in 1991.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Science Olympiad</span> American school science competition

Science Olympiad is an American team competition in which students compete in 23 events pertaining to various fields of science, including earth science, biology, chemistry, physics, and engineering. Over 7,800 middle school and high school teams from 50 U.S. states compete each year. U.S. territories do not compete; however, since 2012 high school teams from Japan have competed at the national tournament as unranked guests.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mock trial</span> Simulation of court hearings

A mock trial is an act or imitation trial. It is similar to a moot court, but mock trials simulate lower-court trials, while moot court simulates appellate court hearings. Attorneys preparing for a real trial might use a mock trial consisting of volunteers as role players to test theories or experiment with each other. Mock trial is also the name of an extracurricular program in which students participate in rehearsed trials to learn about the legal system in a competitive manner. Interscholastic mock trials take place on all levels including primary school, middle school, high school, college, and law school. Mock trial is often taught in conjunction with a course in trial advocacy or takes place as an after school enrichment activity. Some gifted and talented programs may also take place in one.

The World Individual Debating and Public Speaking Championships (WIDPSC) is an annual English language debating and public speaking tournament for individual high school-level students representing different countries. It is the public speaking equivalent of the World Schools Debating Championships.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George C. Marshall High School</span> Public secondary school in Falls Church, Virginia, Fairfax, Virginia, United States

George C. Marshall High School is a public school in Falls Church, Virginia. Named for General George C. Marshall, it opened in 1962 and is part of Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS). It is ranked #245 in the nation for public schools and has received a gold award for Best High Schools from the U.S. News & World Report 2020. It is ranked 4th in Virginia and 4th in Fairfax County. George C. Marshall High School is a fully accredited high school based on Virginia's Standards of Learning tests.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Air & Space Forces Association</span> American professional military and aerospace education association

The Air & Space Forces Association (AFA) is an independent, 501(c)(3) non-profit, professional military association for the United States Air Force and United States Space Force. Headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, its declared mission is "to educate the public about air and space power, to advocate for the world's most capable, most lethal, and most effective Air and Space Forces, and to support Airmen, Guardians, and their families."

The International Bible Contest is a worldwide competition on the Tanakh for middle school and high school Jewish students. It is held annually in Jerusalem, on Yom Ha'atzmaut. Because the event is officially sponsored by the Israeli government and the Jewish Agency, it is attended by the Prime Minister of Israel, Minister of Education and the Chairman of the Jewish Agency.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bob Jones High School</span> Public school in Madison, Alabama, United States

Bob Jones High School is a public high school in Madison, Alabama, United States. The school is a part of Madison City Schools. Despite its name, it is not affiliated with Bob Jones University of Greenville, South Carolina; rather, it is named after Robert E. Jones, Jr., who served the area in the United States House of Representatives from 1947 until 1977.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Air Force Falcons</span> Intercollegiate sports teams of the United States Air Force Academy

The Air Force Falcons are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the United States Air Force Academy, located in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The athletics department has 17 men's and 10 women's NCAA-sanctioned teams. The current athletic director is Nathan Pine. The majority of Falcon teams compete as members of the Mountain West Conference.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pointe Coupee Central High School</span> School in Morganza, Louisiana, United States

Pointe Coupee Central High School was a public high school located in the Labarre area of unincorporated Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana, United States, on Louisiana Highway 1.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">FIRST Championship</span> Annual student robotics championship

The FIRST Championship is a four-day robotics championship held annually in April at which FIRST student robotics teams compete. For several years, the event was held at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia, but moved to the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis, Missouri in 2011, where it remained through 2017. In 2017, the Championship was split into two events, being additionally held at the George R. Brown Convention Center and Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas. In 2018 and 2019, the Championship was held in Houston and Detroit, Michigan at the TCF Center and Ford Field. The event comprises four competitions; the FIRST Robotics Competition Championship, the FIRST Tech Challenge World Championship, the FIRST Lego League World Festival, and the FIRST Lego League Junior World Expo.

Virginia High School is a high school located in Bristol, Virginia. In 1999, Virginia High started offering the Tri-Cities area's first International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme. Classes from the Advanced Placement program are also offered to help students who are headed to college. A career and technical wing was added to the main school building to help students who wish to go into a trade straight from high school. Courses offered for this path include: culinary arts, cybersecurity, engineering and manufacturing, coding, business, horticulture, auto-mechanics, building trades, and nursing.

The National Oldtime Fiddlers' Contest is an old-time music competition, festival, and musical gathering in the western United States, held annually during the third full week in June in Weiser, Idaho, about fifty miles (80 km) northwest of Boise. Within the fiddling community, it is often referred to simply as "Weiser", and the contest draws musicians from across the country. Nearly 7,000 attend for the week and almost 350 fiddlers compete in eight divisions. In addition to the contest there are workshops, performances, a battle of the bands, a parade and a carnival. The contest is held at Weiser High School: the competition is held in the gymnasium, and most of the contestants camp in the school's sports fields.

The Center for Infrastructure Assurance and Security (CIAS) was established at The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) in 2001 as part of UTSA's creation of a cyber security program. The CIAS conducts activities in two major areas: Infrastructure Assurance Programs and Training and also Cyber Security Defense Competitions. The Community Cyber Security Maturity Model (CCSMM), developed by the CIAS, serves as the roadmap for many of its activities. CIAS efforts have been conducted through grants from the U.S. Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security and through private partnerships. Largely as a result of early CIAS activities, UTSA was the first university in Texas to receive designation as a Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education by the National Security Agency. Texas currently has the most universities of any state in the country with these designations. The Center created and currently directs the National Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition and is a Founding Partner of the CyberPatriot National High School Cyber Defense Competition. President Obama's May 2009 Cyberspace Policy Review specifically mentions the CIAS's National Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition (NCCDC) as an example of key education programs that can ensure the Nation's continued ability to compete in the information age economy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Air Force Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps</span>

Air Force Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (AFJROTC) is a subdivision of the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC). JROTC is a junior military science elective class that is offered in many high schools across the United States. The class is the high school version of the college ROTC. The Air Force division of JROTC is composed of physical training, aerospace science academic classes, and leadership skill creation. Outside of the formal class, there are extra-curricular teams that cadets may participate in to create qualities of leadership and followership. Unlike the collegiate version of ROTC, upon completion of JROTC there is no military service required. This allows the youth of the United States to experience the military without having long-term commitments.

The 2016 Cyber Grand Challenge (CGC) was a challenge created by The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in order to develop automatic defense systems that can discover, prove, and correct software flaws in real-time.

Cyber Centurion is a cyber security competition for secondary school children, run in the United Kingdom by STEM Learning. It mirrors CyberPatriot, the US version run by the Air Force Association. Cyber Centurion is sponsored by Northrop Grumman in an initiative to try to build awareness for cyber security among school children.

References

  1. "2018 AFA CyberCamp Program Overview". www.uscyberpatriot.org. Archived from the original on 2018-11-04. Retrieved 2018-11-04.
  2. "Standard AFA CyberCamp Information". www.uscyberpatriot.org. Archived from the original on 2018-11-04. Retrieved 2018-11-04.
  3. 1 2 3 "Competition History". www.uscyberpatriot.org. CyberPatriot. Retrieved 18 June 2019.