Cyber challengeU.S. Cyber Challenge opens registration for Cyber Quests competition
Last week the Council on CyberSecurity, through the U.S. Cyber Challenge (USCC) initiative, announces the open registration of its qualifying Cyber Quests competition — a challenging online contest open to high school and college students, as well as professionals, who will compete against their peers across the country for an invitation to one of four Cyber Camps being offered this summer. The online competition and camps are designed to improve cybersecurity skills, provide training and mentorship from leading instructors and highlight skills for potential employers.
Last week the Council on CyberSecurity, through the U.S. Cyber Challenge (USCC) initiative, announces the open registration of its qualifying Cyber Quests competition — a challenging online contest open to high school and college students, as well as professionals, who will compete against their peers across the country for an invitation to one of four Cyber Camps being offered this summer. The online competition and camps are designed to improve cybersecurity skills, provide training and mentorship from leading instructors and highlight skills for potential employers. Registration opened 2 April 2014 at USCC.CyberQuests.org and will close on 29 April 2014. The online competition opens on 16 April 2014 and closes on 30 April 2014.
Cyber Quests is an online competition that features an artifact for analysis along with a series of quiz questions, which allow participants to demonstrate their knowledge in a variety of information security realms. Participants will have twenty-four hours to complete the competition, beginning from the time they begin answering questions. Winners will be determined based on who achieves the highest score in the shortest amount of time.
The Council on CyberSecurity says that winners of Cyber Quests, who are 18 years or older, will then be eligible to receive an invitation to one of the week-long Cyber Camps being offered across the country in June, July, and August on the basis of their performance. State-specific camps are offered in Delaware and Illinois with regional camps to take place in Virginia and California (Bay Area).
The camps will feature one week of specialized sessions by college faculty, SANS Institute senior instructors and cybersecurity experts, capped off by a live competition and awards ceremony on the final day. In addition to providing expert training for participants to improve their skills and marketability, the Cyber Camps will also provide students the opportunity to engage with major technology companies and government agencies at onsite career fairs for scholarship, internship and employment opportunities.
“Any student or young professional who is interested in cybersecurity should register for our Cyber Quests and compete for an invitation to one of our Summer Cyber Camps,” said Karen S. Evans, national director of U.S. Cyber Challenge. “Our country, in both the private and public sectors, is in great need of talented individuals in the cybersecurity field. Therefore, we have created our competitions and camps to discover talent, provide participants with expert training, and connect these skilled students and professionals with companies and organizations with career opportunities.”
“We are keenly aware of the workforce shortage in the cybersecurity industry,” stated Maurice Uenuma, COO of the Council on CyberSecurity. “The Cyber Quests competition, therefore, is critical to the process of assessing talent to fill these much needed roles and provide qualified professionals. Through the Cyber Quests competition as well as the Cyber Camps offered by U.S. Cyber Challenge, we are equipping participants with the knowledge and skills they need to prosper in the field and raise our national standard of cybersecurity competence.”
Cyber Quests is an online competition administered by Cyber Aces and U.S. Cyber Challenge, a national partnership focused on identifying and developing cybersecurity talent to meet the country’s critical cybersecurity workforce needs. “The Cyber Quests competition is instrumental in the goal to grow and strengthen our country’s cybersecurity workforce,” said David Brown, executive director of Cyber Aces. “Our partnership with U.S. Cyber Challenge enables this competition to be free of charge to participants, thus making it accessible to all who are interested in the field of cybersecurity.”
Cyber Aces will be offering a virtual career fair in conjunction with the Cyber Camp taking place in June. This virtual career fair will allow sponsors from across the country to connect with the rising cybersecurity talent participating in these U.S. Cyber Challenge camps. For more information about the virtual career fair, visit Cyber Aces.
