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IT Security professionals are one of the nation’s most valuable resources and are on the front line in defending our nations corporate, government and academic IT infrastructures. Commonly the commercial sector is left to benchmark the skills of the professionals educated in our higher education institutions after they have already entered the workforce. Imagine instead a regional-wide, systematic approach to IT Security professional skills assessment in higher education in the Midwest region. The National Science Foundation Center for Systems Security and Information Assurance (CSSIA) and several academic and industry partners host four two day intense Cyber Defense Competitions annually throughout the Midwest. These collegiate competitions attract the top IT Security students from institutions of higher education throughout this region. Colleges and Universities that support comprehensive IT Security programs are invited to participate in a technical; skills based competition to include the latest in emerging security technologies and best practices. Six states including IL, IN, MN, WI, OH and MI participate in these competition events with the top teams from each advancing to the regional. Additionally, the winning regional team travels to the University of Texas – San Antonio to compete against the best and brightest students enrolled in IT Security related programs across the nation. The Midwest regional has been well represented over the last three years, in fact in 2008 Baker College from MI placed first at the national CCDC. This unique competition is designed to include external hackers (red teams) attacking the student networks, as well as business users placing operational and administrative demands on the teams. Teams are scored based on their ability to maintain mandated business services, keeping hackers out and answering business scenario injects and business anomalies. The Midwest Regional Collegiate Cyber Defense exercises support IT Security preparedness in a way no other program can. They encourage students and faculty to excel in the latest emerging IT Security technologies, shortening the 12-16 month gap often occurring between the time new graduates complete their college programs and completely integrated into the commercial sector, thereby building a local workforce that will thrive in a globally competitive market. In order to promote the competitions success, we need a strong foundation. Corporate sponsorship allows us to maintain the high quality associated with this program. Sponsorship also defrays institution costs and increases participation and the number of students entering the workforce with this invaluable experience. I invite you to contact us and consider sponsoring this one-of-a-kind program. Please call (708) 974-5725 for more information and help build the 21st century IT Security workforce. Erich Spengler |
