CyberPatriot is the Air Force Association’s National Youth Cyber Education Program, created to motivate students toward careers in cybersecurity and other science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines.
The competition puts teams of middle school students in the position of newly hired IT professionals tasked with managing the network of a small company. In the rounds of competition, teams are given a set of virtual images that represent operating systems and are tasked with finding cybersecurity vulnerabilities within the images and hardening the system while maintaining critical services in a six-hour period. Teams compete for the top placement within their state and region, and the top teams in the nation earn all-expenses paid trips to Baltimore, MD for the National Finals Competition where they can earn national recognition and scholarship money.
CyberPatriot started in 2009 as a pilot program with just eight teams all from Florida. The program has grown to over 3,300 teams in all 50 states, Canada, and DoD dependent schools overseas. In the past 5 years, over $300,000 in scholarships have been awarded.
The program had it’s inaugural year at Ascension in 2015 and has continued each year with great success winning several state awards.
All students are encouraged to join. No prior knowledge of cybersecurity is needed; training materials are designed so any students can excel within the competition. Students train and compete in our state-of-the-art computer lab. A modest registration fee is required. Competition rounds are held in our computer lab (usually on Saturdays).
Online rounds are held in November, December, January, and February. After two qualifying rounds, the top 50% of teams advance to the Semifinals. From there, the top three teams advance to the National Finals Competition which are held in Balitmore, Md. Each spring. All travel expenses paid for in-person competitors. Teams that do not qualify for the National Finals Competition compete in the State and Regional Recognition Rounds.
Contact the school office for more information.