International Collegiate Cyber Defense Invitational (ICCDI) Competition

Highline Community College, Des Moines WA

Investigators

Abstract

Keeping computers and information systems secure is a major challenge both in the United States and abroad. Business, industry, and government need a well-prepared workforce that can prevent, detect, and investigate cybersecurity breaches, and the growth of cyber-threats has created a need for many more workers who have appropriate, specific knowledge and skills. The cybersecurity challenge does not respect national boundaries. The Internet has global reach, and many companies do business and employ technical workers around the world. To address cybersecurity concerns in the United States well, educators and employers need to build cooperation and understanding with their international counterparts. In this project, Highline College, in collaboration with CyberWatch West, will organize and host the first International Collegiate Cyber Defense Invitational (ICCDI) competition during the summer of 2017. This event, which will be modeled after the U.S. Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition (CCDC), will bring together approximately ten student teams and their coaches from nations around the world to tackle real-world cybersecurity challenges in the context of a simulated corporate network. This hands-on experience and competitive practice cannot be replicated in a typical classroom, and it will provide students with better training and preparation for the workforce. The interaction of students and faculty who have different educational backgrounds, as well as experiences with different technologies, will prepare the students for the global cybersecurity environment in which they will work. During the competition, conference sessions will also be held to allow representatives from companies, governments, and educational institutions to share knowledge about cybersecurity challenges and solutions. The ICCDI planning committee will build into the competition's structure opportunities for the students to broaden their knowledge of cybersecurity as it is taught and practiced around the world. These technical features of the competition environment will be supplemented by the opportunity to meet cyber-defenders from other countries face-to-face to discuss both unique and common challenges and to establish new lines of communication. Colleges and universities that have participated in the U.S. Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition have discovered weaknesses in their current curricula and have designed changes to address them. By following a similar approach, the ICCDI will enable participating colleges and universities to adjust their curricula to meet cybersecurity demands in their region and in the international arena. Each team will receive a detailed report about how it performed in the competition, along with a debriefing from the judges and the cybersecurity experts on the Red (penetration testing) Team. The project evaluator will use aggregated data on the performance of the teams and surveys of participants to answer such questions as: How did the students and faculty benefit from the exposure to participants from other countries? What particular nomenclature and skills did participants learn in the international context? What cross-cultural issues emerged as significant during the competition? How will faculty and students use the knowledge and skills that they gained? What curricular changes will be implemented?