Michigan Governor Rick Snyder is inviting teachers and administrators from across the state to register their high school students with skills in computer science, information technology and cybersecurity for the High School Cyber Challenge.
The High School Cyber Challenge will consist of two rounds, the first held online during the week of September 26-30, 2016. The second round will take place at the North American International Cyber Summit, hosted by Governor Snyder on October 17, 2016.
“The Governor’s High School Cyber Challenge gives students across the state the chance to compete against their peers in a challenging test of their technical skills. We’re looking forward to working with schools from all parts of Michigan and hope to do this every year,” said Joe Adams, vice president for research and cyber security for Merit Network and the executive director of the Michigan Cyber Range.
The Michigan Cyber Range, powered by Merit Network, will provide and score the online challenges, as well as conduct a virtual capture the flag exercise during the North American International Cyber Summit.
The high school teams, each comprised of three students, will be asked to complete challenges designed to test their knowledge of information technology and cybersecurity. All high schools in Michigan are eligible to participate, and schools may enter more than one team.
Round one will be held completely online. Challenges will be released each day on September 26-29, 2016. The daily challenges will focus on networks, programming, operating systems and hacking skills. The top ten teams will be selected to advance to the second round. The top teams will be announced on Friday, September, 30, 2016.
Round two will take place from 8 a.m.-12 p.m. during the North American International Cyber Summit, held at Cobo Center in Detroit on October 17, 2016. During the second round, teams will compete in a virtual exercise designed to test their skills with an intensive, timed series of cybersecurity challenges.
The top three teams from the round two will receive awards directly from Governor Snyder during lunch at North American International Cyber Summit.
Governor Snyder is a champion in cybersecurity awareness with creation of the Michigan Cyber Initiative in 2011, an action plan to defend Michigan against cyber attacks and take advantage of opportunities in the growing cybersecurity industry. As part of the Cyber Initiative, Merit Network developed the Michigan Cyber Range, a virtual environment for cybersecurity education, training and testing.
The deadline to register your three-person team(s) is September 19, 2016.
Request more information by emailing [email protected]. Register your team(s) by visiting www.merit.edu/cyber-challenge.
About Michigan Cyber Range
The Michigan Cyber Range prepares cybersecurity professionals to detect, prevent and mitigate cyber-attacks in a real-world setting. Like a test track or a firing range, the Michigan Cyber Range enables individuals and organizations to conduct “live fire” exercises: simulations that test the detection and reaction skills of participants in a variety of situations. The Michigan Cyber Range also offers certification courses for a number of cybersecurity disciplines, with instruction available on-site and live online. A full training schedule may be found at the Merit Michigan Cyber Range web site: www.merit.edu/cyberrange.
The Michigan Cyber Range is hosted and facilitated by Merit Network in partnership with the State of Michigan and with the sponsorship of DTE Energy.
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. For more information: www.merit.edu.
For press/media contact:
Pierrette Templeton
Merit Network, Inc.
(734)527-5734
[email protected]