SAIC Sponsors the 5th Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition in Maryland

COLUMBIA, Md., March 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) (NYSE: SAI) today announced it is sponsoring the 5th Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition (CCDC) that will take place in the SAIC Conference Center in Columbia, Md., March 11-13. Students will compete against cyber attackers attempting to disrupt and compromise computer networks.  

Schools were selected by a preliminary competition that included 100 students from 15 colleges throughout the Mid-Atlantic region. Five schools selected as winners include three from Maryland: Community College of Baltimore County; Towson University; and, the University of Maryland Baltimore County. The two other schools are Asheville-Buncombe Technical College in North Carolina, and Millersville University in Pennsylvania. The winner of the Mid-Atlantic competition will represent the region in the National Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition in San Antonio, Texas, April 16-18.

Cyber crime is a persistent and growing threat. According to the U.S. Department of Defense, there will be a significant shortfall in the types of scientists, engineers and mathematicians needed to maintain a strong defense. The CCDC helps address this challenge.

"Defense of our cyber infrastructure is imperative, and competitions such as the CCDC provide students with an exciting and challenging introduction to careers in science, technology, and engineering," said Larry Cox, SAIC senior vice president and business unit general manager. "Since SAIC is a science and engineering company, we are committed to promoting technical disciplines to future generations."

During the competition, students will compete against a "Red Team" responsible for conducting offensive operations against the defending student teams. Members of the Red Team are traditionally professional penetration testers or students of offensive network warfare. The competition focuses on the operation aspects of managing and protecting an existing network infrastructure. Student teams are scored based on their ability to detect and respond to outside threats; maintain availability of existing services such as email servers; respond to business requests; and, balance security needs against business needs.

Industry and government officials will observe the competition and discuss security career choices with top students from the region. Students eliminated from the preliminary competition will also attend the event.

The SAIC Conference Center is located at 6841 Benjamin Franklin Drive, Columbia, Md. For more information about the competition, please visit www.MidAtlanticCCDC.org.  

About SAIC

SAIC is a FORTUNE 500^® scientific, engineering, and technology applications company that uses its deep domain knowledge to solve problems of vital importance to the nation and the world, in national security, energy and the environment, critical infrastructure, and health.  The company's approximately 45,000 employees serve customers in the U.S. Department of Defense, the intelligence community, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, other U.S. Government civil agencies and selected commercial markets.  Headquartered in McLean, Va., SAIC had annual revenues of $10.1 billion for its fiscal year ended January 31, 2009.  For more information, visit www.saic.com.  SAIC:  From Science to Solutions^®

Statements in this announcement, other than historical data and information, constitute forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause our actual results, performance, achievements, or industry results to be very different from the results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Some of these factors include, but are not limited to, the risk factors set forth in SAIC's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the period ended January 31, 2009, and other such filings that SAIC makes with the SEC from time to time. Due to such uncertainties and risks, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof.

    
    
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SOURCE SAIC