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The Kaiserslautern High School CyberPatriot team recently competed for their third straight state title. Should the teams finish in the top three positions within their tier, platinum, they will be able to compete for a regional title later this month.
CyberPatriot is the premier National Youth Cyber Education Program. The competition is designed to put high school and middle school students in the position of newly hired information technology professionals tasked with managing the network of a small company. Teams are given virtual images that represent the company’s operating systems, and team members must identify and secure all system vulnerabilities, while ensuring that all critical services are maintained.
Each competition lasts six hours and consists of having to secure up to three operating systems, each with a different function or scenario. Operating systems can include Windows Client, Windows Server or Ubuntu Linux. Furthermore, students will also configure virtual networking devices and take a Cisco networking exam. Nearly 2,000 high schools nationwide participate in the CyberPatriot competition.
All four teams at Kaiserslautern High School have made it into the platinum tier, which is in the top 30 percent. It is at this tier that the challenges become much more difficult, and only those in the platinum tier will be able to compete for the national title. With just a few positions available in the regional round, each of the four teams from KHS are a bit anxious to know the results.
This is the fourth year that Kaiserslautern has entered the competition. Each year, more and more students seem to be interested in joining the club. The growth of the program has been remarkable, largely due to the continued support and mentorship from Armed Forces Communication and Electronics Association.
AFCEA has provided mentorship to the KHS Technology Club for the past four CyberPatriot seasons. Not only have they supported the CyberPatriot program, but provide mentors for other such programs such as Ethical Hacking, Raspberry Pi, Robotics First Challenge, IT Certification and recently the StellarXplorers Space program.
Students, like those in the CyberPatriot program and other after-school programs, realize that school doesn’t end at three o’clock; it’s just getting started. Students love to compete, they love to learn, and they love to hear from professionals in the field. When you put them all together, you build a winning team both in and outside the classroom.
