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Air Force Association’s Air Force Association’s CyberPatriotCyberPatriotThe The National High School Cyber Defense CompetitionNational High School Cyber Defense Competition

AFA Chapter Outreach BriefingAFA Chapter Outreach Briefing

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America: A Cyber NationAmerica: A Cyber Nation

U.S. critically dependent on cyber systems for industry, commerce, public safety, national defense

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Requirement: A Cyber WorkforceRequirement: A Cyber Workforce

• National cyber security can’t exist without strong, indigenous cyber workforce• We aren’t graduating enough STEM scientists, technical grads, engineers, math

majors, cyber experts• We must motivate high-school youth to pursue STEM paths

When compared to other nations, the math and science achievement of U.S.pupils and the rate of STEM degree attainment appear inconsistent with a nationconsidered the world leader in scientific innovation. In a recent internationalassessment of 15-year-old students, the U.S. ranked 28th in math literacy and 24th inscience literacy. Moreover, the U.S. ranks 20th among all nations in the proportionof 24-year-olds who earn degrees in natural science or engineering.

2008 Congressional Research Study“Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM)

Education: Background, Federal Policy, and Legislative Action”

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What doesn’t work… What does…What doesn’t work… What does…

• Academic instruction is important, but students aren’t particularly inspired by more class time, more lectures

• Multi-media instruction is a good tool, but they see plenty of that

• What excites, motivates: A well-organized, well-structured, competition

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CyberPatriotCyberPatriot Is… Is…

1. The national high school cyber defense competition.

2. Carefully structured to excite, educate, and motivate participants.

3. Designed to instill in all participants the importance to our nation of cyber, cyber security, and good computer security practices.

4. Designed to motivate all participants to consider STEM academic disciplines to meet our nation’s needs.

5. Designed to motivate many participants to become the next generation of cyber defenders and our nation’s “digital workforce.”

“We will begin a national campaign to promote cyber security awareness and digital literacy from our boardrooms to our classrooms, and to build a digital workforce for the 21st century.”

President Obama, May 2009

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CyberPatriotCyberPatriot Is Not… Is Not…

1. “Hacker training” We don’t teach “hacking” tools or techniques, and “hacking” in competition is strictly forbidden.

2. A recruiting tool for the Air Force, the Department of Defense, or the Federal government This is about building a strong national foundation for cyber skills throughout our high schools.

3. Boring academic instruction CyberPatriot is designed with extremely high fun and excitement quotients.

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Crawl … Walk …Crawl … Walk …

Phase I: Feb 2009Concept Demonstration (Orlando, Florida)

Eight teams (7 AFJROTC/1 CAP), all from Florida

Phase II: Apr 2009 – Feb 2010Pilot Deployment

200+ teams (AFJROTC/CAP) – 42 States & Japan

Only

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Run!Run! 2010-2011 2010-2011

Full-scale national deploymentOpen to all high schoolsTwo Divisions:• Open Division (Any bona fide educational institution, including home-schools)• All Service (CAP, JROTC (all Services))

States with registered CP-III Teams as of July , 2010. Registration for CP-III open until October 8, 2010.

During the 2010-2011 academic year, for the first time any high school in the nation may participate in CyberPatriot.

Open to all high schools

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Value to StudentsValue to Students

• Introduces students to cybersecurity, a topic that:• Uniquely resonates with the digital natives they are• Shows them how they can protect themselves in cyberspace• Offers exciting/lucrative careers (even right out of high school)• Boasts an increasing pool of government funded scholarships

• Provides a practical, hands-on learning experience• Identifies talent – we’ve seen moderate achievers “blossom” • Rewards technical academic achievement – “geeks” can be cool!

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Value to Each High SchoolValue to Each High School

• Provides a fun, competitive, non-traditional teaching paradigm for STEM skills

• All instructional materials and competition presented at a level at which even average students can be successful

• Cyber defense competition is “cool,” fun, and rewarding for many students not usually motivated by challenging STEM subjects

• All rounds of competition teach teamwork—something useful to every student

• Low cost of participation ($350) significantly offset by free software to schools and to each student, as well as other gratuities

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CyberPatriotCyberPatriot’s Reach’s Reach

Headcount is not solely about team registrants or participants

Impact: Exposure through initial orientations, discussions extend to tens of thousands of students

Behind every competitor stand dozens of students who learn about why cyber security is vital to every state of our nation.

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Preliminary Phases Conducted Via Internet

Competition StructureCompetition Structure

Whole-class academicsEntry assessmentGame & LaboratoryQualification competition Preliminary Rounds Medalist Round

Competitions Conducted on Site

Air Warfare Symposium (All Service Qualifier), Rosen Shingle Creek, Orlando, FL, 18 February 2011)

CyberFutures Conference, Gaylord National Convention Center, National Harbor, MD, 1-2 April 2011)

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Competition TimelineCompetition Timeline

12 Teams 1-2 Apr

Open Division (all High Schools)500 Teams

125 Teams 11 Dec

36 Teams8 Jan

500 Teams 13 Nov

All Service Division (JROTC/CAP)

5 Teams 1-2 Apr

500 Teams

12 Teams 18 Feb

500 Teams 23 Oct

125 Teams 6 Nov

36 Teams 4 Dec

Air WarfareSymposium

CyberFuturesConference

CyberFuturesConference

Today

Registration Practice Sessions On-line competition In-person competition

May Jun Jul Aug Sep

Oct

Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr

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How does it work?How does it work?

CyberPatriot (a Coach [teacher]-centric process): 1) Two-step process: Coach “verified,” then granted access2) Coach creates “team” & verifies students 3) “Protected space” for coach/student/other team

interaction within Competitor Relationship Management (CRM) system

4) Microsoft software through Coach5) Mentors selected by Coach

If you have any questions, please e-mail info@uscyberpatriot.org

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What do I need?What do I need?

Hardware:• 1 Ghz (Intel preferred) processor • 2 GB RAM• 20 GB of free disk space• Keyboard & Mouse• Network connection (DSL or better)• 1024x768 or higher display• (Optional) It is recommended to use a projector or large display to share the screen output with the rest of the team, but not required.

Software:• Operating System (Windows 2000 or newer, recent VMware supported Linux, or Macintosh 10.4.11 or later)• Web Browser• ZIP client capable of handling encrypted ZIP files (7-Zip preferred)• VMware Player (for Windows or Linux) or VMware Fusion (for Macintosh)

Minimum Requirements:

For later Qualification Rounds with multiple (up to 3) VMs, a separate system for each VM is desired

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What do I get for the $350?What do I get for the $350?

• License for Microsoft Academic Alliance Developer software ($499 value to each coach and team member)

• Access to training materials on highschoolcdc.com site

• Access to CRM with exclusive information on cybersecurity, scholarships, internships, career opportunities

• Participant kits (coins, shirts, certificates – $150-$200 cost)

• All travel, lodging, food expense to the in-person events

NOTE: Fee is waived for CAP/JROTC ONLY where their parent HQs has agreed to fund travel costs

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A Cyber Workforce CatalystA Cyber Workforce Catalyst

CyberPatriot is designed to:

1) Be accessible to every HS student;

2) Initiate a seamless path from HS, through college, to the workforce;

3) Benefit every CyberPatriot stakeholder and every state in our nation.

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Air Force Association’s CyberPatriot IIINational High School Cyber Defense Competition

Presenting Sponsor

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The Greatest NeedThe Greatest Need