Detroit, Michigan
The Michigan National Guard and the Michigan Cyber Range hosted an International Cyber Exercise on October 28, 2019, as part of the state’s North American International Cyber Summit. Eleven teams from five countries and six states competed in an all-out, fast-paced cyber exercise that resembles the physical game of paintball.
“The Michigan Cyber Range is very proud to continue our partnership with both the State of Michigan and the Michigan National Guard in our sixth annual International Cyber exercise. In partnering with not only other states but other countries around the world, we can effectively simulate real-life situations and train both ourselves and our allies to defend against the kinds of cyber attacks that could damage us today.” said Kevin Hayes, Chief Information Security Officer for Merit and the Michigan Cyber Range.
While the Michigan teams participated from the Summit’s location, the other teams took part from their home station – making the exercise span multiple time zones. Set in the virtual cyber city of Alphaville, the teams had to attack targets while defending servers that they controlled, stressing the importance of quick decision making, communication and technical skills.
At the end of the day, the Estonia team prevailed, but the competition challenged all the teams. Everyone who participated is eagerly anticipating next year, when they hope to return to Alphaville and compete against other teams again.
Continuous support for the ICE comes from our event community supporters include Cisco, Juniper Networks and ADVA.
About Merit Network:
Merit Network, Inc. is a nonprofit corporation owned and governed by Michigan’s public universities. Merit owns and operates America’s longest-running regional research and education network. In 1966, Michigan’s public universities created Merit as a shared resource to help meet their common need for networking assistance. Since its formation, Merit Network has remained on the forefront of research and education networking expertise and services. Merit provides high-performance networking and IT solutions to Michigan’s public universities, colleges, K-12 organizations, libraries, state government, healthcare, and other non-profit organizations.
About the Michigan Cyber Range
The Michigan Cyber Range prepares cybersecurity professionals to detect, prevent and mitigate cyber attacks in a real-world setting. Certification courses, hands-on exercises and workshops are hosted on the range, the nation’s largest unclassified private cloud.
The Michigan Cyber Range is hosted and facilitated by Merit Network.
Media Contact
Pierrette Widmeyer
Director of Marketing and Communications, Merit Network
937.212.0631, [email protected]