2014 CyberPatriot National Youth Cyber Defense Competition Draws More Than 2,100 Teams, Breaks All Time Registration Record

ARLINGTON, Va., Oct. 20, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Air Force Association announced today that CyberPatriot, the National Youth Cyber Defense Competition, closed out their registration period with more than 2,150 teams hailing from all 50 states, Canada and DoD Dependent Schools in Europe and the Pacific.  CyberPatriot is beginning its seventh competition season with a 40 percent increase in total registrations from last year, reaching thousands of students in the United States and beyond.

Last year's team registrations totaled 1,566 with 69 of those teams competing in the middle school division.  This competition season marks the fourth consecutive year for reaching participants in all 50 states. The Open Division, consisting of teams not affiliated with any of the military branches, experienced particularly strong growth this competition season. 

"Our registration numbers prove that CyberPatriot is growing immensely, all the while making a lasting STEM impact on our participants," said Brigadier General Bernard Skoch (USAF Ret.), CyberPatriot National Commissioner. "The middle school division is only in its second year, yet nearly 200 teams have registered.  We are very pleased and couldn't be more excited about the upcoming competition season."

CyberPatriot greatly expanded its reach in recent years with the unveiling of a middle school division in the competition in 2013, a successful summer pilot of AFA CyberCamps in 2014, and an anticipated launch of the Elementary School Cyber Education Initiative later this year. CyberPatriot also extended its competition this year to the United Kingdom, under the name CyberCenturion.  In partnership with Cyber Security Challenge UK and Northrop Grumman, the UK's competition is now underway.

"The success of CyberPatriot is phenomenal," said Diane Miller, Northrop Grumman program director, CyberPatriot.  "The 40 percent growth in just one year is proof that we're exciting youth about education and career opportunities in STEM and more specifically, cyber defense.  The Northrop Grumman Foundation is proud to partner with the Air Force Association in making this tremendous positive impact on a very diverse population of youth as they prepare to become our future cyber workforce."

Created by the Air Force Association, CyberPatriot seeks to inspire students toward careers in cybersecurity or other science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines critical to our nation's future. With Round 1 set for Oct. 24-26, 2014, teams across the country and in other parts of the world will compete in a series of online rounds to determine finalists for an all-expenses-paid trip to the CyberPatriot National Finals Competition in the nation's capital in March 2015.

CyberPatriot, the nation's largest and fastest growing youth cyber education program, is AFA's flagship STEM program dedicated to strengthening cyber skills among American youth. Students in the program also gain valuable knowledge from the expertise of CyberPatriot's many supporters, including the Northrop Grumman Foundation, CyberPatriot's presenting sponsor. Other program sponsors include Cyber Diamond sponsors AT&T Federal and the AT&T Foundation, Cisco, Microsoft, USA Today,  the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and the Office of the Secretary of Defense; Cyber Gold sponsors URS, Riverside Research, Splunk, and Symantec; and Cyber Silver sponsors Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Leidos, MIT Lincoln Laboratory, and University of Maryland University College.

For more information about CyberPatriot, please visit www.uscyberpatriot.org. Information is also available from the CyberPatriot staff at [email protected].

The Air Force Association is a non-profit, independent, professional military and aerospace education association. Our mission is to promote a dominant United States Air Force and a strong national defense, and to honor Airmen and our Air Force Heritage. To accomplish this, we:

• EDUCATE the public on the critical need for unmatched aerospace power and a technically superior workforce to ensure U.S. national security.
• ADVOCATE for aerospace power and STEM education.
• SUPPORT the Total Air Force family and promote aerospace education.

AFA has 200 chapters nationally and internationally representing more than 95,000. Visit AFA at www.afa.org.  

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Blogger, LinkedIn, and YouTube!

SOURCE Air Force Association

Related Links

http://www.afa.org