CyberPatriot the National Youth Cyber Education Program created by the Air Force Association (AFA) to inspire K-12 students toward careers in cybersecurity or other science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines critical to our nation's future. The CyberPatriot Programs are:
THE NATIONAL YOUTH CYBER DEFENSE COMPETITION
At the center of CyberPatriot is the National Youth Cyber Defense Competition, which puts teams of high school and middle school students in the position of newly hired IT professionals tasked with managing the network of a small company. Through a series of online competition rounds, teams are given a set of virtual operating systems and are tasked with finding and fixing cybersecurity vulnerabilities while maintaining critical services. The top teams in the nation earn all-expenses paid trips to Maryland for the National Finals Competition where they can earn national recognition and scholarship money.
WHO
TEAM MEMBERS
- Coach: An Instructor from National Cyber Security University.
- Competitors: Each CyberPatriot team must consist of between two and six competitors enrolled in the participating school or organization. While up to six students are permitted on each team's roster, a maximum of five students are permitted to compete at any one time during a competition round. A one-time substitution can be made each round.
- Technical Mentor(s): IT-experienced individuals who volunteer to assist in the cybersecurity training of CyberPatriot teams. Mentors must register on the CyberPatriot website and are required to successfully complete a background check before being eligible to officially join a team. (Minimum age: 18)
- Team Assistant(s): Adult volunteers who provide non-technical support and encouragement to the team (assisting with scheduling, set-up, snacks, etc.). Team assistants must register on the CyberPatriot website and pass a background check. (Minimum age: 18)
DIVISIONS:
Based on the competitor composition, a team is assigned to one of three divisions:
- Open Division: High school students from schools, scouting units, Boys and Girls Clubs, home school programs, STEM programs, etc.
- All Service Division: High school students in JROTC Programs / Civil Air Patrol units / Naval Sea Cadet Corps units
- Middle School Division: Middle school students from schools, scouting units, boys and girls clubs, STEM programs, etc.
WHAT
CyberPatriot’s National Youth Cyber Defense Competition challenges teams of high school and middle school students to find and fix cybersecurity vulnerabilities in virtual operating systems. Using a proprietary competition system, teams are scored on how secure they make the system. Top teams advance through the online round of competition, and the best of the best advance to the in-person National Finals Competition.
Each team has two challenges during their six-hour competition period:
- Network Security Challenge: involves finding and fixing security vulnerabilities in Windows and Linux operating systems.
- Cisco Networking Challenge: consists of an online quiz and a virtual networking exercise based on specific training materials.
WHERE
All rounds of competition, except for the National Finals Competition, take place online. Teams may meet at and compete from any location – classroom, computer lab, public library, home, etc.
Teams qualifying for the National Finals Competition travel all-expenses paid to Bethesda, MD in the spring.
WHEN
Team Registration: April 1 – October 2, 2019 (You must register a team to get access to the rounds below)
- Exhibition Rounds: Basic practice rounds available during the summer months - May to August
- Training Round: A basic practice round that includes an answer key - September
- Official Practice Round: Final practice round before the scored rounds begin - October
- Scored/Live Rounds: Competitions take place on specified weekends throughout the school year. Scored rounds are held one weekend a month from November to February. Teams choose any six-hour period during the competition weekend (Friday, Saturday, or Sunday) to complete all their work.
FULL COMPETITION SCHEDULE
COMPETITION DATES AND TIMES
(DATES ARE TENTATIVE - MAY BE SUBJECT TO CHANGE)
Teams may compete during the following times on competition weekends. All times are US Eastern Time.
Friday, 9:00 AM - Saturday, 3:00 AM ET
Saturday, 8:00 AM - Saturday, 11:59 PM ET
Sunday, 10:00 AM - Sunday, 10:00 PM ET
ROUND |
DATES |
DESCRIPTION |
| Round 1 (All teams participate) |
October 25-27, 2019 |
All teams may compete. Tests basic of cybersecurity skills. |
| Round 2 (All teams participate) |
November 15-17, 2019 Image download instructions and links are sent to Coaches at 5 PM Eastern, the Friday prior to competition round. The StartEx email with the password to the images is sent to teams at 9 AM Eastern the Friday of the competition round. |
All teams may compete even if they did not compete in Round 1 or had a low score. More difficult than Round 1, to allow teams to be divided into skill-level tiers for the State Round. |
| State Round (All teams participate / eliminations occur after State Round) |
December 6-8, 2019 Image download instructions and links are sent to Coaches at 5 PM Eastern, the Friday prior to competition round. The StartEx email with the password to the images is sent to teams at 9 AM Eastern the Friday of the competition round. |
All teams may compete with a clean slate. Past performance or participation in Rounds 1 and 2 do not count toward placement. Teams compete against other teams based on skill level for State Awards and Tier Awards. |
| Semifinals |
January 24-25, 2020 Image download instructions and links are sent to Coaches at 5 PM Eastern, the Friday prior to competition round. The StartEx email with the password to the images is sent to teams at 9 AM Eastern the Friday of the competition round. |
Top teams compete for Tier Awards. Platinum Tier and top Middle School Division teams compete for advancement to the National Finals Competition. |
| National Finals CompetitioMarch 19-23, 2020 n (held in Bethesda, MD) |
March 19-23, 2020 |
National Finalist teams compete for National Championship in their respective divisions. |
If you or your school would like to partner with National Cyber Security University, please contact us at cyberpatriot @ ncsuniversity.org.