Cyber Analyst Challenge

Cyber Analyst Challenge and Conference Bridges Academic-Industry Gap

A cyber competition administered by Temple University’s Institute for Business and Information Technology (IBIT) to fill the ever-growing need for cyber analysts has a winner. A team from Syracuse University earned a $20,000 prize as the winner of the third annual National Cyber Analyst Challenge and Conference.

Created to enhance the skills of the future workforce and inspire students to pursue careers in cyber security, the National Cyber Analyst Challenge and Conference focuses on developing strategic skills involving analysis and threat identification. Partnerships with NBCUniversal, Vanguard, Leidos, and Pfizer powered this year’s competition.

A panel of industry experts scored the team from Syracuse University highest in technical proficiency and communication. The multi-phased competition started with each team analyzing a cyber case. In the second phase, the teams received training from industry experts. The competition culminated in a real-time practical challenge held April 12-13 at Temple University in Philadelphia.

“Cyber is driving the next big shift in the evolution of IT,” said Michael Bradshaw, Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer of NBCUniversal, who was one of the keynote speakers. “Much as client-server and use of the Internet and web applications shaped the landscape, securing the IT environments for our companies and ourselves personally will drive changes we’re only just starting to understand.”

“This competition draws students from across the country, serving as a tremendous pipeline of emerging talent in an increasingly important technical field,” said Chris Kearns, competition co-founder and Head of Hosting Services at Vanguard. “The finalists showcased conceptual thinking, analytics, deep technical skills, and inspiring teamwork, as they tackled real-life scenarios.”

A team from Pennsylvania State University finished runner-up to Syracuse, receiving a $5,000 prize. The National Cyber Analyst Challenge’s other finalists (in alphabetical order) were: Brigham Young University, Carnegie Mellon University, Howard University, Iowa State University, University of Alabama at Huntsville, University of Maryland University College, University of New Haven, and Villanova University.

The associated conference engaged faculty and industry experts from Pfizer, NBCUniversal, Vanguard, Amazon, University of Delaware, University of Alabama, Carnegie Mellon, Temple University and others. Presenters discussed cyber research and curriculum challenges and opportunities.

Kim Basile, Senior Vice President and Chief Information Security Officer at Leidos, who was also a keynote speaker, believes the National Cyber Analyst Challenge and Conference has “zeroed in on one of the most important challenges in cybersecurity—analyzing the oceans of data we create each day to identify threats and find better approaches to security.”

“The competition provides companies like Leidos the opportunity to meet students from across the country,” she added, “and hopefully strengthen the workforce of the future as this competition grows and teams challenge each other, compete, and win.”

The participants agree: 96% found the competition valuable, while 90% found that the conference provided valuable insights and knowledge.

“The National Cyber Analyst Challenge and Conference is one of a kind,” said Dr. Munir Mandviwalla, Executive Director of Temple’s IBIT, who worked with Laurel Miller, Director, to organize the event. “No other competition is bridging industry experts and academics from management information systems, computer science, and engineering to address the cyber needs of the nation.”

Contact:
Christopher A. Vito
Temple University
215-204-4115, cvito@temple.edu

2nd Annual National Cyber Analyst Challenge results in 10 finalists and adds a conference

Ten university finalists were selected for the 2016 National Cyber Analyst Challenge (NCAC), a competition that supports top students currently pursuing cyber-related degrees in the nation’s leading programs. Powered by Leidos and administered by Temple University’s Institute for Business and Information Technology (IBIT), the competition sent 10 teams to Phase 2 advanced cyber training and the subsequent Phase 3 finals in Reston, Va., Oct. 27-28.

The finalists (in alphabetical order) were: Carnegie Mellon University, Howard University, Iowa State University, Penn State University, Syracuse University, Temple University, University of Maryland University College, University of South Florida, University of Texas at San Antonio, and Villanova University. Each team received an award of $6,000 to $12,000 to support student, faculty, and curriculum development. A panel of industry experts scored the teams on technical proficiency, judgment, and communication.

Carnegie Mellon University was awarded $25,000 as the winner of the second National Cyber Analyst Challenge.

Developed to enhance the skills of the future workforce and inspire students to pursue careers in cyber security, the National Cyber Analyst Challenge focuses on developing strategic skills involving analysis and threat identification.

“Our nation and our very way of life is under constant attack in cyberspace,” said Chris Kearns, senior vice president of enterprise and cyber solutions at Leidos.

“These talented students demonstrated amazing skill to connect the dots in this real-world scenario to defend our critical digital infrastructure.”

In its second year, the Cyber Analyst Challenge is a pioneering interdisciplinary competition that includes undergraduate and master’s students studying information systems, computer science, and engineering, and encourages the development of strategic skills involving analysis, threat identification, and mitigation planning.

“The demand for cyber professionals with analytical mindsets and strong fundamental skills grows every year and our customers need more students to enter the field and help defend our nation in cyber space,” said Chris Kearns.

The three-month, multi-phased competition started with each team analyzing a cyber case. In the second phase, the teams received training from industry experts. Participating universities fielded teams of four to five students, and a faculty advisor, to analyze a data set. The data set provides the context to a fictitious cyber incident. For Phase I each team submitted a C-level presentation to analyze the incident and provide recommendations.

New in 2016, the associated NCAC conference engaged faculty and industry experts on cyber risk analysis, threat identification, remediation, and communication. Presenters discussed cyber research and curriculum challenges and opportunities including macroeconomic, policy, legal, and digital perspectives, as well as curriculum best practices – targeted toward schools interested in expanding their cyber programs.

“The NCAC conference provided a unique opportunity for meaningful dialogue between academic, industry, research, and education experts,” added Dr. Munir Mandviwalla, Executive Director of Temple’s IBIT, who worked with Laurel Miller, Director, to envision the competition.

One outcome from the conference is the identification of a set of strategies to enhance cyber education and research through data centric collaboration between industry and academia.

Lockheed Martin, IBIT partner for successful National Cyber Analyst Challenge

Lockheed Martin and Temple University’s Institute for Business and Information Technology (IBIT) joined forces Nov. 5-6 in Washington D.C. to host the first annual National Cyber Analyst Challenge. The competition, which welcomed students from nine universities, including a team from the Fox School of Business, was designed to enhance students’ skills in combatting cyber-attacks.

“Cyber security analysts represent a critical skill need for most organizations,” said Chris Kearns, Lockheed Martin’s Vice President of Enterprise IT Solutions. “These students showed great promise through their hands-on teamwork to solve real world challenges and progress through the competition.”

The challenge, which aims to inspire today’s technologically literate students to pursue careers in cyber security, was a three-month, multi-phase competition that presented each team with a cyber-security case to analyze. Temple’s team included five students from the Fox School’s Master of Science in IT Auditing and Cyber Security (ITACS) program: Jeta Gjana, Jose Gomez, Kerwing Hy, and Nick Nguyen, from ITACS’ security track; and Ibtissam Bazzine, of ITACS’ auditing track. The students received coaching from ITACS professors Ed Ferrara and Wade Mackey.

In the first phase of the competition, the students pored over 75 gigabytes of data to find the cause of the simulated hack. Then the teams submitted 10-slide summary reports to explain their respective solutions for preventing future cyber-attacks. In the second phase, in which only nine teams competed, the students received training from industry experts. The competition culminated in a real-time practical challenge held at Lockheed Martin’s Global Vision Center in Crystal City, Va.

The winning team, from Iowa State University, was selected by a panel of industry experts and scored on technical proficiency, judgment, and communication. Iowa State’s students received $25,000 in prize money. The runners-up, including Fox’s team, received awards of $7,500-$15,000 to support student, faculty, and curriculum development.

“It was gratifying to work with Lockheed Martin to create such a student- and faculty-centric opportunity,” said Dr. Munir Mandviwalla, IBIT’s Executive Director and the Chair of Management Information Systems at the Fox School. “We hope to increase the national cyber talent pool across the nation’s top programs in Management Information Systems, Computer Science, and Engineering.”