The University of Central Florida, which was recently designated as a Hispanic-Serving Institution by the U.S. Department of Education officials, placed second in the 2019 National Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition held in Orlando from April 23-25. More than 235 colleges and universities competed to test their prowess in multistage regional competitions and a single-elimination round reducing the field to 10 finalists for the national championship.
The top 10 teams who made it to Orlando protected the network of a fictional business specializing in cryopreservation, crop research and development, and sustainable farming. The company was made to endure sustained attacks orchestrated by ethical hackers using the same tactics and techniques as real-world bad actors.
The National Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition (NCCDC) is the first to test cyber defense skills in a collegiate competition modeled after real-world attack scenarios. Sponsors of NCCDC include government agencies, colleges, and commercial companies such as Raytheon, which will bring the winning team, University of Virginia, to Washington, D.C., to some of the nation’s top research and national cybersecurity sites.
“Everyone recognizes the need to find and train more cyber professionals,” said Dwayne Williams, director of Technology, Research & Cyber Competitions in the Center for Infrastructure Assurance and Security (CIAS) at the University of Texas at San Antonio.
CIAS takes a leading role in cybersecurity competitions such as NCCDC, CyberPatriot, and Panoply.
At the 2019 NCCDC championship, the 0 schools that competed included Rochester Institute of Technology, Stanford University, University of Virginia, and the University of Central Florida (UCF).
This February, UCF and Lockheed Martin opened a new Cyber Innovation Lab on UCF’s campus that will help meet the growing local and national need for cybersecurity talent.
“This lab will serve as the campus’ primary hub for students to develop and expand their information security skills, preparing them to enter this high-demand field and take on the cybersecurity threats of the future,” says UCF President Dale Whittaker. “We are grateful for Lockheed Martin’s longtime partnership and strong commitment to our students’ success.”
According to UCF, which recently announced its Hispanic-Serving Institution designation, 27.5 percent of the student population identify as Hispanic or Latino.
Other designated Hispanic serving institutions in Florida include Florida International University and Miami Dade College (MDC).
In May 2018, MDC opened its Cybersecurity Center of the Americas, where trainees will face live cyberattacks in training programs such as the Cyber Range.
The MDC Cyber Range will support the college’s initiative to grow cybersecurity competency in Florida and offer hands-on training, certification, and assessment for commercial and public-sector organizations in Florida.
“The MDC Cyber Range will produce highly qualified graduates, who will fill critically needed cybersecurity positions, and will create more employment opportunities for MDC students”, said Antonio Delgado, dean of Engineering, Technology, and Design, at Miami Dade College. “The MDC Range will help organizations around South Florida ramp up their workforce skills and improve cyber resilience, by providing high-fidelity, hands-on training, powered by market-leading Cyberbit technology.”
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