Communications of the ACM
Teams Prep For Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition
Students competing at the 2014 Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition.
Credit: Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory
College students from 10 mid-Atlantic schools will defend a virtual mass transportation computer system against full-scale cyberattacks at the 10th Annual National CyberWatch Center Mid-Atlantic Regional Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition (CCDC) at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland
The Mid-Atlantic CCDC is designed to give students the chance to apply classroom theory and skills to defend against real-time targeted cyber attackers, led by professional security testers, in a controlled, scored setting. Each competition revolves around a simulated scenario — based on real-world systems such as elections and health care — that shows students the effects of various cyberattacks.
This year's scenario, "Operation Transit Storm," pits the college teams against the fictitious Hackistan Army of Liberation (HAL), which will be portrayed by professional cybersecurity experts. The teams are informed that HAL has publicly threatened U.S. citizens and plans to target regional commuter rail control networks and information systems. The college teams will attempt to operate a simulated version of a commuter rail system's IT infrastructure, and be responsible for defending and maintaining the system for the duration of the competition, enduring numerous attempts to sabotage and disrupt the railway.
"The Mid-Atlantic CCDC is special because we really give these young men and women a tough challenge," says Lewis Lightner, director of the National CyberWatch Center at Prince George's Community College in Largo, Maryland. "We drop them into a scenario they don't know much about, with infrastructure they've never used before, and then we throw professional cybersecurity testers at them. It's a great simulation of what cybersecurity is sometimes like in the real world, and it gives them a unique way to learn and improve their skills while under fire."
The event will take place over the course of three days. The CCDC kicks off on Thursday, March 26, and will include a job fair featuring government agencies and private firms. The two-day competition begins on March 27. There will be a K-12 fair and expo on March 28 to learn about cybersecurity as a field of study and as a career. The entire three-day event is free and open to the public.
Ten teams of students from two- and four-year colleges and universities will vie for the mid-Atlantic regional title during the competition, to be held at the Kossiakoff Center at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory. The teams are from Anne Arundel Community College (Maryland); Capitol Technology University (Maryland); County College of Morris (New Jersey); East Carolina University (North Carolina); James Madison University (Virginia); Liberty University (Virginia); Towson University (Maryland); University of Maryland, Baltimore County (Maryland); University of Maryland, College Park (Maryland); and Wilmington University (Delaware).
The winning team will compete in the National Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition April 24–26, in San Antonio.
The Mid-Atlantic CCDC, part of the National Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition, is coordinated and run by the National CyberWatch Center, an Advanced Technological Education Center funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation.
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