National Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition

The National Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition (NCCDC) is the championship event for the Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition system – the largest college-level cyber defense competition in the world.^[1] The event is held annually in the San Antonio area.

In an effort to help facilitate the development of a regular, national level cyber security exercise, the Center for Infrastructure Assurance and Security at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) hosted the first Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition for the Southwestern region in May 2005. On June 29, 2010, United States House legislature passed recognizing the National CCDC for promoting cyber security curriculum.^[2]

While similar to other cyber defense competitions in many aspects, the NCCDC, is unique in that it focuses on the operational aspect of managing and protecting an existing network infrastructure. While other exercises examine the abilities of a group of students to design, configure, and protect a network over the course of an entire semester, this competition is focused on the more operational task of assuming administrative and protective duties for an existing commercial network. Teams are assessed based on their ability to detect and respond to outside threats, maintain availability of existing services such as mail servers and web servers, respond to business requests such as the addition or removal of additional services, and balance security needs against business needs.^[3]

Rules

The NCCDC is operated under the rules as published by the Center for Infrastructure and Assurance at UTSA^[4]. The current rules can be found at [1].

Regional Competitions

Several regional groups have formed to provide qualifying events for the NCCDC annual event. Every effort is made to make each regional event consistent with the NCCDC event.

Central Region Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition

The Central Region Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition (CRCCDC) region comprises Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, and Utah.

Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition

The Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition (MACCDC) region comprises Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia^[5].

Midwest Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition

The Midwest Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition (MWCCDC) region comprises Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin^[6].

North Central Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition

The North Central Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition (NCCCDC) region comprises North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, and Wyoming^[7].

Northeastern Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition

The Northeastern Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition (NECCDC) region comprises Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont^[8].

Pacific Rim Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition

The Pacific Rim Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition (PRCCDC) region comprises Idaho, Oregon, and Washington^[9].

Southeastern Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition

The Southeastern Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition (SECCDC) region comprises Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, Kentucky, South Carolina, and Tennessee^[10].

Southwest Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition

The Southwest Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition (SWCCDC) region comprises Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas^[11].

Western Regional Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition

The Western Regional Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition (WRCCDC) region comprises Arizona, California, and Nevada^[12].

Past Competitions

2011

• Date of Event: April 8-10, 2011
• Winner: University of Washington, WA
• Second Place: Texas A&M University, TX
• Third Place: University of Louisville, KY
• Other Competing Teams:

• Cal Poly Pomona, CA
• Indiana Tech, IN
• Rochester Institute of Technology, NY
• United States Air Force Academy, CO
• University of Maryland, MD
• University of Wyoming, WY

2010

• Date of Event: April 16–18, 2010
• Winner: Northeastern University, MA
• Other Competing Teams:

• California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, CA
• DePaul University, IL
• Montana Tech, MT
• Texas A&M University, TX
• Towson University, MD
• University of Louisville, KY
• University of Washington, WA

2009

• Date of Event: April 17-19, 2009
• Winner: Baker College at Flint, MI
• Other Competing Teams:

• California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, CA
• Dakota State University, SD
• Northeastern University, MA
• Texas A&M University, TX
• University of North Carolina, Charlotte, NC
• University of Pittsburgh, PA
• University of Washington, WA

2008

• Date of Event: April 18-20, 2008
• Winner: Baker College at Flint, MI
• Other Competing Teams:

• Baker College at Flint, MI
• Community College of Baltimore County, MD
• Mt. San Antonio College, CA
• Rochester Institute of Technology, NY
• Texas A&M University, TX
• University of Louisville, KY

2007

• Date of Event: April 13-15, 2007
• Winner: Texas A&M University, TX
• Other Competing Teams:

• Indiana Tech, IN
• Millersville University, PA
• University of Louisville, KY

2006

• Date of Event: April 21-23, 2006
• Winner: University of North Carolina at Charlotte, NC
• Other Competing Teams:

• Millersville University, PA
• Southern Illinois University, IL
• University of Texas at San Antonio, TX

2005

This was the CCDC pilot competition.

• Date of Event: April 15-17, 2005
• Winner: Texas A&M University, TX
• Other Competing Teams:

• Del Mar College, TX
• University of Texas at Austin, TX
• University of Texas at San Antonio, TX
• University of North Texas, TX

External links

• http://infosec.kennesaw.edu/SECCDC/index.html

References

1. ^ http://www.nationalccdc.org/
2. ^ http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=hr111-1244
3. ^ http://infosec.kennesaw.edu/SECCDC/index.html
4. ^ http://cias.utsa.edu/competitions.html
5. ^ http://www.midatlanticccdc.org/CCDC/about/
6. ^ http://www.mwccdc.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=29&Itemid=28
7. ^ http://www.ia.dsu.edu/ccdc/
8. ^ http://neccdc2010.umcs.maine.edu/
9. ^ http://ciac.ischool.washington.edu/?page_id=234
10. ^ http://infosec.kennesaw.edu/SECCDC/index.html
11. ^ http://ccdc.tamu.edu/
12. ^ http://www.wrccdc.org/