AT&T Provides Generous Contribution to CyberPatriot

ARLINGTON, Va., Oct. 4 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Air Force Association (AFA) today announced that AT&T has joined CyberPatriot's team of sponsors, helping the premier high school cyber defense competition accommodate more schools by supplying technical support.

CyberPatriot is entering its second year as a national program and is expanding rapidly because of its unique structure. It combines online education and preliminary competition rounds delivered over the Internet, proceeding to in-person finals held in conjunction with AFA National Symposia. Thus far, CyberPatriot has more than 550 schools representing 47 states already organizing teams.

This year, AT&T, a long-standing source of network-enabled solutions for federal government, will be providing hundreds of Internet access cards to the student competition. AT&T's support will enable teams with insufficient or insufficiently permissive bandwidth to compete in CyberPatriot.

"One of the key security challenges facing the federal government is recruiting and training a robust cyber security workforce with the right technical skills to protect and secure our nation's critical infrastructure," said John Nagengast, Executive Director, Strategic Initiatives, AT&T. "AT&T is proud to support the CyberPatriot program and its vital mission to excite and develop the next-generation of cyber security leaders."

"We are very grateful for AT&T's generous contribution to CyberPatriot," said Mike Dunn, AFA's President and CEO. "These Internet access cards will allow so many students to compete in the CyberPatriot program."

"AT&T's assistance this year is helping to make a significant positive impact on cyber security's future," said S. Sanford Schlitt, Chairman of AFA's Board of Directors. "We are thankful for the momentum their support will bring to the competition."

The CyberPatriot contribution was made through the AT&T Aspire program, a $100 million commitment to help students succeed in high school, the workforce and in life. AT&T launched Aspire in April 2008. It is one of the largest-ever corporate commitments to address high school success and workforce readiness.

Registration for CyberPatriot will end on October 8th. The competition features an in-person twelve-team All-Service championship round February 18th in Orlando, Florida, in conjunction with AFA's annual Air Warfare Symposium. The top Service teams from that round, along with twelve finalist teams from the Open Division will advance to the National Championship at the Gaylord National resort in National Harbor, Maryland, for the CyberPatriot Championship in conjunction with AFA's CyberFutures Symposium and Technology Exhibition, March 31 to April 2, 2011.

The AFA is a 501(C)(3), nonprofit organization promoting public understanding of aerospace power and the pivotal role it plays in the security of the nation. AFA has over 200 chapters nationally and internationally representing 120,000 members. Visit AFA www.AFA.org.

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SOURCE Air Force Association