Cyber
CyberPatriot
CyberPatriot puts teams of high school and middle school students in the position of newly hired IT professionals tasked with managing the network of a small company. In the rounds of competition, teams are given a set of virtual images that represent operating systems and are tasked with finding cybersecurity vulnerabilities within the images and hardening the system while maintaining critical services in a six hour period. The top teams in the nation earn all-expenses paid trips to Baltimore, MD for the National Finals Competition where they can earn national recognition and scholarship money.
Registration usually closes in early fall, but the earlier your team starts preparing the better. CAP is assigned to the All Service division, so each CAP team must be composed of between two and six high school level CAP cadet competitors.
Visit the AFA CyberPatriot Website (uscyberpatriot.org) for more information.
Cisco Partnership
Check out the announcement (PPTX) of the partnership between Cisco Networking Academy and CAP!
Civil Air Patrol is partnering with Cisco Networking Academy (NetAcad) to make cybersecurity support, training and curriculum resources available for free to all 60,000 CAP members.
Cyber Badge Program
To encourage cadet participation in CAP’s cyber education programs, cadets may earn the Cadet Cyber Badge which recognizes a cadet's dedication to cyber education. To learn more, download the pamphlet (PDF) and use the tracking log (XLSX) to keep track of the cadet's progress in the program.
CAP National Cyber Academy
The CAP National Cyber Academy (CNCA), the summer cyber NCSA, integrates cyber security certification standards into career exploration courses and dovetails with the Cadet Program Cyber Module which is in production. The CNCA hosts two courses, Cyber Ops Fundamentals and Cyberspace Networking, at two locations - Texas-area and Virginia-area. Exact dates and locations for 2021 will be coming later on this year.
Great Lakes Region Cybersecurity Academy
The CAP Great Lakes Region Cybersecurity Camp provides a place for cadets to grow their knowledge of Windows and Linux operating systems, networking, cybersecurity careers, cybersecurity defense techniques, and leadership—while having some fun in the process! Cadets will become stronger CyberPatriot competitors, with sharper leadership and teamwork skills, and will learn about future education and career options.
Air Force Association CyberCamps
The Air Force Association has CyberCamps through the summer for groups to introduce students to cyber security concepts and prepare them for their first CyberPatriot competition. They have a standard camp as well as an advanced camp. The standard camp is for students and cadets who have no previous cyber security or CyberPatriot experience while the advanced camp is for students who have some experience and want to learn additional concepts.