Nothing is more current today than the field of cybersecurity – both in education and its importance in the workplace. Emphasizing the importance and need for cybersecurity, Maryland has been positioning itself in recent years as the cybersecurity hubb of the nation – and the State is starting its students out as young as possible. This fall, a national online contest for high school students designed to identify future cyber experts took place in cyberworld. More than 2,000 high school students from 32 states, 3 U.S. territories and 169 schools registered for the competition, which took place during October and November. And, a Damascus High School student from Damascus, MD is one of the top five national winners of the U.S. Cyber Challenge (USCC) fall Cyber Foundations competition.
The online competition, conducted in collaboration with the SANS Institute and the Common Knowledge Scholarship Foundation (CKSF), featured a series of quizzes in the most important foundational fields of cyber security: networking, operating systems, and system administration.
The following are the top five scoring students in the nation, in order of score:
- Gavy Aggarwal: Charter School of Wilmington - Delaware
- Ryan Foster: Polaris Career Center - Ohio
- Andrey Kuklev: Huron High School - Michigan
- Jade Mollard: Damascus High School - Maryland
- Jeffrey Yuan: Mission San Jose High School – California
(ICS)2, a not-for-profit leader in educating and certifying information security professionals throughout their careers, will present scholarships for the five national winners in the amounts of $2,500, $1,500, $1,000, $750, and $500 respectively.
"In this constantly evolving field, it is essential that we provide the future cybersecurity workforce with the educational and career path tools they need to succeed," said Julie Peeler, (ISC)² Foundation director. "(ISC)²'s Information Security Scholarship Program is dedicated to supporting competitions such as this one that ignite a spark of passion in students for the security field and that help to fill the pipeline of future recruits in an industry strapped for qualified, certified professionals. We applaud the efforts of all the competitors and send our congratulations to the winners. We hope they all continue their interest in this area of study and look forward to their bright futures in our industry."
"As the national epicenter of federal cyber security, Maryland is proud of the students who competed in the Cyber Foundations contest. The success of our students is a direct reflection of their hard work, dedicated teachers and an engaged business community," said Dr. Bernard J. Sadusky, Interim State Superintendent of Schools. "This partnership has created an infrastructure in Maryland that will better prepare students for careers and advanced studies in cyber. The Maryland State Department of Education would like to thank Cyber Foundations for creating this great opportunity."
The top scoring students in each school and state will earn recognition and awards for their achievements. Those with an interest and aptitude may go on to pursue a career in cyber security and help fill the critical gap in the nation's cyber workforce.
- Click here for the top scoring student from each school.
- Click here for the top 3 scoring students from each state.
- Click here for the National Rankings.
Congratulations to all the students who entered!
Also see:
- UMUC now exclusive AFCEA preferred provider for IA and Cybersecurity programs
- Survey says: Schools still unprepared regarding cybersafety and cybersecurity
- Cybersecurity: new collaboration between UMD and Tenable Network Security
- Cybersecurity: SAIC and UMBC launch new cyber competition and conference
- AFA announces CyberPatriot championship round and new CyberFutures Conference
- UMUC to offer 3 new online cybersecurity graduate certificate programs
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(source: MSDE)
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