On Nov. 16, 2019, 105 teams from colleges and universities across 32 states and Puerto Rico participated in the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) fifth CyberForce Competition™ sponsored by DOE’s Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response.
The CyberForce Competition, which seeks to inspire and develop the next generation of energy sector cybersecurity professionals, was hosted by ten National Laboratories.
“Every year, the CyberForce Competition attracts more and more talented students," said Karen Evans, Assistant Secretary for Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response. “We envision this competition to be a tool to assist our sector closing skills gaps and shortages of cybersecurity experts."
This year’s CyberForce Competition challenged student teams with not only defending one of four systems - a fictional energy company’s solar generation facility, electric substation, data center, or manufacturing plant - but also communicating with the other three infrastructures to monitor and maintain the integrity of the system as a whole. The simulated attacks were executed by experts from the National Labs, the National Guard, and the private sector.
Overall nationwide winner:
University of Maryland, Baltimore County | Baltimore, Maryland
Regional winners:
From Argonne National Laboratory:
University of Central Florida | Orlando, Florida
From Brookhaven National Laboratory:
Northeastern University | Boston, Massachusetts
From Idaho National Laboratory:
University of Idaho, Idaho Falls | Idaho Falls, Idaho
From Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory:
University of California, Davis | Davis, California
From Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory:
California State University, Sacramento | Sacramento, California
From National Energy Technology Laboratory:
Baldwin Wallace University | Berea, Ohio
From National Renewable Energy Laboratory:
University of Colorado, Boulder | Boulder, Colorado
From Oak Ridge National Laboratory:
University of Florida | Gainesville, Florida
From Pacific Northwest National Laboratory:
Oregon State University | Corvallis, Oregon
From Sandia National Laboratories:
Southern Methodist University | Dallas, Texas
More information on DOE’s CyberForce Competition can be found HERE.
Source: U.S. Dept. of Energy, Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response
