CybersecurityRegistration opens for U.S. Cyber Challenge’s annual Cyber Quests competition

Published 13 April 2016

U.S. Cyber Challenge (USCC) on Monday opened registration for the 2016 Cyber Quests online competition. The annual Cyber Quests competition determines who qualifies for the USCC Summer Cyber Camps, a leading nationwide program in cybersecurity workforce development.

U.S. Cyber Challenge (USCC) on Monday opened registration for the 2016 Cyber Quests online competition. The annual Cyber Quests competition determines who qualifies for the USCC Summer Cyber Camps, a leading nationwide program in cybersecurity workforce development. While registration opened 11 April, the actual competition will open on Monday, 25 April 2016, with the competition closing on Friday, 6 May 2016. To register and compete, visit uscc.cyberquests.org.

The Cyber Quests competition and USCC camps are designed to improve cybersecurity skills, provide training & mentorship from renowned instructors and highlight skills for potential employers. For this specific Cyber Quests, competitors need to identify incident indicators and ultimately apply skills required of a Security Monitoring and Event Analyst job role as outlined in the Council on CyberSecurity’s Mission Critical Role Project report.

For Cyber Quests, participants will have twenty-four hours to complete the competition, beginning from the time they begin answering questions. Winners are determined based on who achieves the highest score in the shortest amount of time, and top performers who are 18 years or older and U.S. citizens, will then be eligible to receive an invitation to one of the week-long Cyber Camps offered across the country. The three camps will be hosted by Delaware State University, Moraine Valley Community College (Illinois), and Southern Utah University.

Those who attend a USCC Cyber Camp will receive instruction from some of the nation’s leading cybersecurity teachers and practitioners, participate in hands-on lab activities, network with employers at the camp job fair, and compete in a capture-the-flag competition which challenges both their technical skill sets and their ability to work in a team environment.

USCC notes that U.S. Cyber Challenge is supported in part through sponsorships by AT&T, Cyber Ninjas, Workday, NIC, PCM-G, Monster Government Solutions, Federal CIO Council, Common Knowledge Scholarship Foundation, the Department of Homeland Security, Microsoft, SANS Institute, Lockheed Martin, AFFIRM, and Amazon Web Services.

To learn more about Cyber Quests, visit the Web site at USCC.CyberQuests.org. Details about the summer camps are on the U.S. Cyber Challenge website – www.USCyberChallenge.org.