Cyber Quests April 2013: Illinois Governor's Cyber Challenge

Illinois Governor Pat Quinn and the Cyber Aces Foundation have announced the Illinois Governor's Cyber Challenge, a statewide competition that will fill mission-critical jobs in the emerging cybersecurity workforce. The Cyber Challenge is designed to provide a pathway of learning and workforce training for Veterans and students.

April 2013:

This April, Illinois residents are invited to participate in the April 2013 Cyber Quests competition. Top-performing Illinois residents will be invited to participate in the USCC Summer Camp being held in Illinois this summer at Moraine Valley Community College, Palos Hills, Illinois (Chicagoland Area) from August 12-16, 2013.

Cyber Quest participants will be provided with a network packet capture file that they must analyze to identify and interpret various types of network and web application attacks, with a focus on web application traffic. Participants will have to answer questions about the network itself, as well as the activities of the users on the network. The quiz is designed for an intermediate skill level, and all questions can be answered using the Wireshark packet analysis tool. No live network sniffing is required for this challenge; all analysis is done on a provided capture file.

USCC Summer Camps feature one week of specialized cyber security training that includes workshops, a job fair, and a culminating "Capture the Flag" competition. The workshops are led by college faculty, top SANS Institute instructors, and cyber security experts from the community. The workshops and presentations focus on a variety of topics ranging from intrusion detection, penetration testing and forensics. Participants can also participate in a job fair that provides them the opportunity to meet with USCC sponsors and discuss potential employment. The weeklong program ends with a competitive "Capture the Flag" competition and an awards ceremony attended by notables in the cyber security industry and government.

Fall 2013:

This Fall, we will hold our entry-level Cyber Centers competition, which will be open to Veterans, students, and other job seekers in Illinois. The free entry-level education and testing program focuses on fundamentals with emphasis on three critical modules: Networking, Operating Systems and System Administration. An educational tutorial is included in each module, followed by an exam. Top-performing participants will be invited to a state championship event featuring top-performers from both quiz cycles, and will occur in Spring 2014.

Dates for the Fall 2013 competition and Spring 2014 championship are yet to be determined.