[Infowarrior] - MDC3 and CyberMaryland 2012 Registration Open

[Richard Forno]

(Disclosure: As with last year, I am UMBC's lead on the challenge event.  --rick)


MARYLAND CYBER CHALLENGE & COMPETITION 2012 ANNOUNCEMENT

The Maryland Cyber Challenge & Competition (MDC3), formerly the Maryland Cyber Challenge (MDC3), is back for its second year as the State’s premiere cybersecurity event. MDC3 2012 will run concurrently with the CyberMaryland Conference at the Baltimore Convention Center on 16-17 October 2012.  

Register your team now to compete—or join us at CyberMaryland 2012 to watch us crown the competition’s top cybersecurity talent in the two-day live finals!  Incredible prizes—and industry bragging rights—are at stake!

Who Can Compete?
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MDC3 offers three levels of competition: high school, college and professional. Each division is open to participants who meet the following qualifications:

	• High School: Students in class years 2013-2016
	• College: Full-time and part-time university (graduate & undergraduate) and community college students
	• Professionals: Industry & government cybersecurity/IT professionals
	(Teams of six are recommended)

What is the Challenge?
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Teams within each level will battle it out in a series of exciting, real-world cybersecurity games that put their skills -- from technical expertise and platform knowledge to critical thinking and teamwork -- to the ultimate test in operational cybersecurity situations.

Online qualification rounds during the Fall will test each team’s cyber defense skills, including their ability to harden systems against vulnerabilities, maintain critical services, and communicate timely and effectively as a team. As teams advance, the qualification rounds will increase in complexity and intensity.

The finals—to be hosted in person at CyberMaryland 2012—will include a Capture the Flag/King of the Hill variant event which introduces more challenging exercise problems as the game progresses.

What is the Reward?
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In 2011, first and second place student teams received $5000 (per person) scholarships to support their higher education sponsored by the National Security Agency (NSA), along with an internship with SAIC.  Each member of the second place student teams received $2000 scholarships, also from NSA.  Professional first- and second-place finalists received $2000 and $1000 cash prizes respectively (per person).

In addition, the Information Systems Security Association (ISSA), a not-for-profit, international organization of information security professionals and practitioners, awarded one-year memberships to the first-place winners in all divisions of competition, as well as to the second-place finishers in the high school and college divisions.

Awards for MDC3 2012 will be announced in the near future!

For More Information
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Registration @ https://www.fbcinc.com/e/cybermdcompetition/atreg1.aspx
Info Sessions @ https://www.fbcinc.com/e/cybermdconference/infosessions.aspx
Competition Schedule @ https://www.fbcinc.com/e/cybermdconference/schedule.aspx
MDC3 2011 Results @ https://www.fbcinc.com/e/cybermdconference/2011results.aspx
CyberMaryland Conference Details @ https://www.fbcinc.com/e/cybermdconference/

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Just because i'm near the punchbowl doesn't mean I'm also drinking from it.