Student CyberPatriot Competition Wraps Up

High school students from six schools across the nation will split $50,000 in scholarships after competing in the CyberPatriot VI competition, a culminating tournament in which participants tested strategies to defend computers and networks against cyber attacks. CyberPatriot kicked off in November, with roughly 1,600 students from all 50 states, D.C., Puerto Rico, Canada, and Defense Departments Dependents Schools in Europe and the Pacific vying for a chance to prove their concepts the best at the National Finals Competition, which wrapped up March 29, 2014.

The 2014 winning teams are:

Open Division:

• National Champion: Team “Azure,” North Hollywood High School, North Hollywood, California
• National Champion Runner-Up: Team “V’Ger,” Grissom High School, Huntsville, Alabama
• Third Place: Team “Sudo,” Summit Technology Academy, Lee’s Summit, Missouri

All Service Division:

• National Champion: Team “Fearsome Falcons,” Clearfield High School, Clearfield, Utah (Air Force JROTC)
• National Champion Runner-Up: Team “Marine Raiders,” Montachusett Regional Vocational Technical School, Fitchburg, Maine (Marine Corps JRTOC)
• Third Place: Team “Rodney’s House,” Patrick Henry High School, San Diego (Navy JROTC)

Middle School Division:

• National Champion: Team “Cyber Knights,” Beach Cities Cadet Squadron, San Pedro, California
• National Champion Runner-Up: Team “Leathernecks,” Marine Military Academy, Harlingen, Texas

CyberPatriot, part of the Air Force Association’s National Youth Cyber Education program, preps students in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM. Sponsor Northrop Grumman Foundation funds the scholarships.

“Cybersecurity events–most of them attacks–are in the news every single day,” Bernie Skoch, CyberPatriot commissioner, says. “And as cyberthreats to our nation continue to grow in sophistication and frequency, we absolutely must develop the next generation of cyberdefenders to defeat those threats.”

Students can begin registering now for next season's competition.