Five teams of Copley High School students recently competed in the National Youth Cyber Defense Competition. The national competition is sponsored by CyberPatriot.
CyberPatriot is the National Youth Cyber Education Program founded by the Air & Space Forces Association. It encourages students from K-12 to explore potential occupations in cybersecurity or other science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines important to our nation's continued growth. At its center lies the National Youth Cyber Defense Competition - this country’s biggest cyber defense tournament that challenges high school and middle school participants to protect virtual networks.
During the competition season, participants compete in teams about once a month for 3-5 months. There are five rounds, Round 1, Round 2, State Round, Semi-Finals, and Finals. All teams compete in the first three rounds. The scores from the first two rounds determine which tier the teams are placed in. There are three tiers, Silver, Gold, and Platinum. A team's score from the previous rounds will decide which teams go to the fourth round, the Semi-finals. The top 12 teams from the Platinum Tier compete in the Finals round.
During each round, participants work in teams on at least three virtual computers of varying operating systems. Each round will consist of at least Windows, Windows Server, and Linux (Ubuntu or Debian) computers. Participants will work on securing these computers to the best of their abilities. Participants also have to secure virtualized Cisco networking equipment.
Five teams from Copley High School (23 students) participated this year. Two of the teams received awards after the State Round and are moving on to the Semi-finals. This is an incredible feat as there were 1948 teams that competed nationally in the State Round, and only the top three teams from each tier (Platinum, Gold, and Silver) in each state received awards.
The CHS student team of Panic at the Cisco was the top team in the Platinum Tier, or overall the best in the state or State Champions! The Schulmeisters team was the top team in the gold tier or Gold Tier State Champions. Teams do change annually, but Copley High School has had State Champions two years in a row!
The students receiving awards and moving on to the Semi-Finals are:
15-0033 - Panic¡ at the Cisco - 1st Place State Award Winners
Tyler Allen (Team Captain)
Tristin Curtis
Henry Foster
Ryan Towell
Grant Hyne
15-0035 - The Schulmeisters - 1st Place Gold Tier State Award
Adrian Leff (Team Captain)
Keenan McCray
Ethan Owen
Jackson Gamsby
Harrison Rothschild
The Semi-Finals round takes place on January 20-21, and the Copley students will compete on the 21st.
“We had some amazing, dedicated students compete in the CyberPatriot Competition this year,” said Anthony Schulmeister, Information Technology Specialist and CyberPatriot Coach. “I am proud of each and every one of them as they did an excellent job and gave their very best.”
For more detailed information about CyberPatriot check out their webpage here.
