SANS Institute to Host the Final Battle Round of the 2015 Ultimate Cyber Defender Competition at the SANS Cyber Defense San Diego Training event

BETHESDA, Md., Sept. 2, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- SANS Institute, the global leader in information security training, today announced the final round of the 2015 Ultimate Cyber Defender competition will be held in conjunction with the SANS Cyber Defense San Diego 2015 training event taking place October 19 - 24. This engaging and exciting challenge will pit security professionals against each other in their quest to be awarded the title of Ultimate Cyber Defender.

"While there can only be one winner, the competition in itself is very rewarding to all who participate," said Dr. Eric Cole, Fellow and Cyber Defense Lead at SANS Institute. "This event offers security professionals a chance to test their skills and showcase them to existing and potential employers, friends, colleagues, and family. It will be exciting to watch."

Cybersecurity and InfoSec practitioners from across the world are competing to be crowned the Ultimate Cyber Defender during the two-day event held October 22-23. Each week, since the competition began in July, participants have had the opportunity to earn points by answering cybersecurity and SANS trivia questions. Joey Watson, VP of Information Technology with CCB Community Bank has emerged as a finalist after winning the SANS Cyber Defense Summit qualifying competition in Nashville. Watson will join four other competitors in San Diego this October to vie for the title of Ultimate Cyber Defender.

Competing alongside Watson in San Diego will be the two highest scorers for the online qualifying competition and the two highest scorers at the SANS Live Training event qualifier in San Diego. The five finalists will display their skills at the final live Battle Royale and will determine who walks away as the Ultimate Cyber Defender champion.

SANS Cyber Defense San Diego 2015 features hands-on, immersion-style training courses for security professionals at all levels. Many of these security courses have certifications that are aligned with DoD Directive 8570/8140, and most courses at this event are associated with GIAC Certifications. Active Defense, Offensive Countermeasures and Cyber Deception, Hacker Tools, Techniques, Exploits and Incident Handling, and Intrusion Detection In-Depth are just some of the courses offered. 

For additional information on the 2015 Ultimate Cyber Defender competition please visit: www.sans.org/u/7YB. For information on the SANS Cyber Defense San Diego training event including a complete list of courses or to register for the event, visit: www.sans.org/u/7Rb

About SANS Institute
The SANS Institute was established in 1989 as a cooperative research and education organization. SANS is the most trusted and, by far, the largest provider of cyber security training and certification to professionals at governments and commercial institutions world-wide. Renowned SANS instructors teach over 50 different courses at more than 200 live cyber security training events as well as online. GIAC, an affiliate of the SANS Institute, validates employee qualifications via 27 hands-on, technical certifications in information security. The SANS Technology Institute, a regionally accredited independent subsidiary, offers master's degrees in cyber security. SANS offers a myriad of free resources to the InfoSec community including consensus projects, research reports, and newsletters; it also operates the Internet's early warning system--the Internet Storm Center. At the heart of SANS are the many security practitioners, representing varied global organizations from corporations to universities, working together to help the entire information security community. (www.SANS.org)

SOURCE SANS Institute