AFA Congratulates Advancing Teams in CyberPatriot Competition

ARLINGTON, Va., Dec. 21, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Air Force Association's CyberPatriot recently announced the top scoring teams who will be advancing to the third and final preliminary round of the nation's largest high school cyber defense competition.

CyberPatriot, an education initiative produced by AFA in 2008, is a one-of-a-kind cyber defense competition that provides students hands-on learning about cyber security. CyberPatriot IV brought in more than 1,000 team registrations from all 50 states, U.S. Department of Defense Dependent Schools in Europe and the Pacific, and Canada in the two-track competition. Teams have registered from public, private, parochial and home schools in the Open Division, and JROTC units of all Services and Civil Air Patrol squadrons filled the All-Service Division.

During the second round of competition, held the first and third weekends of December, teams set out once again to defend virtualized networks of computers. Teams were scored according to how quickly and effectively they established and maintained secure networks. The scores of the first and second preliminary rounds were aggregated to determine which teams moved forward.

To view the list of advancing All Service Division teams, click here. To view the advancing Open Division teams, click here.

"There was a tremendous amount of effort being displayed by all the teams who participated in CyberPatriot IV, and we congratulate them for their hard work," said Bernie Skoch, CyberPatriot Commissioner. "As these students are competing against their peers and having fun, they are also building skills and key knowledge in an area that is critical to our nation's success. We are proud to be able to provide such an energetic and exciting venue for learning, and look forward to the remainder of this year's competition."

After Round 3, the top 12 qualifying teams of each division receive all-expenses-paid trips to the CyberPatriot National Championship Competition held in the Washington, DC area, in March 2012.

The final preliminary round for the All Service Division teams will be on January 13, while the Open Division competes again on January 27.

CyberPatriot is presented by the Northrop Grumman Foundation, with founding partners SAIC and the CIAS at the University of Texas-San Antonio. CyberPatriot is also a member of the U.S. Cyber Challenge (USCC), a national coalition of public-private sector entities collaborating to enhance the workforce with the next generation of cyber security professionals through skill development activities, mentoring, and resources, and the facilitation of scholarship, internship and employment opportunities.

More information on CyberPatriot can be found at www.usCyberPatriot.org.

The Air Force Association (AFA) is a 501(c)(3) organization that educates the public about the critical role of aerospace power in the defense of our nation, advocates aerospace power and a strong national defense, and supports the United States Air Force, the Air Force family and aerospace education. AFA has more than 200 chapters nationally and internationally representing more than 119,000 members. Visit AFA on the internet at www.afa.org.

SOURCE Air Force Association