To encourage individual thought leaders to share their knowledge with the AFCEA audience, each year, SIGNAL produces The Cyber Edge Writing Award. Writers address a unique theme and the top three submissions receive cash prizes and accolades. A panel of industry experts selects the winners.
Your ideas can change how nations secure the cyber domain. AFCEA’s The Cyber Edge Writing Award offers writers of all stripes a chance to win money AND play a pivotal role in securing the cyber domain.
Theme: Cyber Defense for Critical Infrastructure
Volt Typhoon, the criminal hacker group backed by the Chinese Communist Party, infiltrated networks in preparation for disruptive or destructive cyber activity against critical infrastructure in the event of a major crisis or conflict with the United States. While this may be the most alarming critical infrastructure threat to date, it is certainly not the only one.
For this award, we seek articles that identify threats and offer novel solutions, including emerging technologies, training, tactics, techniques, procedures, policies and partnerships. Authors might also identify challenges to implementing solutions and recommendations for overcoming those obstacles.
Approach
- Explain the threat.
- Describe a solution and how it could (or is) alleviating current dangers.
- Report on activities that are either possible, necessary or already underway to implement the technology, program or concept.
Article Writing Details
- Word count should be between 1,200 and 1,600.
- Use a news writing style with the most important information in the first paragraph and direct attributions in the article where needed.
- Do not use footnotes/references. Only submit original writing.
- The article must not have been submitted elsewhere or have been previously published in any format either in print or online.
- Contest entries will be judged on content originality, alignment with the focus, writing quality and guideline adherence.
Deadline
Submission deadline was February 7, 2025.
Prizes
The top three authors will each receive a monetary prize and have their articles published by SIGNAL Media.
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1st place — $5,000
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2nd place — $2,000
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3rd place — $1,000
Eligibility
Open to industry, academia, government and military at all levels and locations. Employees of AFCEA and their immediate families, or employees of the contest sponsor, are not eligible. Only one submission per individual name, regardless of author or co-author status. An author can include co-authors when submitting; however, regardless of the number of co-authors, only one prize will be paid, as shown above, per winning submission.
Past Writing award Winners