Arlington, VA, March 27, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --

What:                                   Media Opportunity at Cyber Patriot National Finals Competition

When:                                  Competition: Tuesday, April 9, 2019

                                            Awards Dinner: Wednesday, April 10, 2019 Full Agenda

Where:                                 Hyatt Regency Baltimore Inner Harbor

                                             300 Light Street Baltimore, MD 21202

Media Contact:                   Bridget Dongu

                                           bdongu@afa.org

                                           703-247-5818

The recent cyberattacks on Marriott International and the Equifax data breach exposed the personal information of nearly half the US population. These threats increase by the day as technology only grows more advanced and dangerous, leaving countless global businesses and individuals feeling helpless.

What can we do?

Luckily, there are thousands of middle and high school kids learning every day how to defend computer networks against attacks through the National Youth Cyber Education Program. CyberPatriot, the nation's largest and fastest growing youth cyber program, is dedicated to strengthening cyber skills among American youth to build a generation of cyber defenders.

Beginning in 2009 with only eight teams from the Orlando, FL area, CyberPatriot now has over 6,387 teams of high school and middle school students from around the United States and international DOD Dependent Schools participating annually in the National Youth Cyber Defense Competition. Watch the eleventh competition unfold April 8-10, 2019 in Baltimore, MD.

The competition puts teams of high school and middle school students in the position of newly hired IT professionals tasked with managing the network of a small company. In the rounds of competition, teams are given a set of virtual images that represent operating systems and are tasked with finding cybersecurity vulnerabilities within the images and hardening the system while maintaining critical services.

CyberPatriot is making strides unlike any other youth organization to teach American youth the importance of STEM education and to defend our nation from serious cyberattacks.

The CyberPatriot National Commissioner will be available for interviews during the week of the competition. Media are welcome to attend the competition, Opening Ceremony and Awards Banquet. Find the full agenda here. For all media inquiries, please contact Bridget Dongu at bdongu@afa.org or 703-247-5818.

Resources:

Short overview video from 2018 CyberPatriot X National Finals

• List of current CyberPatriot Sponsors

• Recent CyberPatriot media coverage

• For more information on CyberPatriot, visit our website

Since its creation in 2009, CyberPatriot has:

• Expanded from a pilot with only eight teams (all in Florida) to more than 6,387 teams of high school and middle school students representing all 50 states, the District of Columbia, the US Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Canada, and Department of Defense Dependent schools in Europe and the Pacific
• Published the first known cybersecurity storybook, Sarah the Cyber Hero
• Assisted with the deployment of CyberCenturion, a version of CyberPatriot, in the United Kingdom and Cyber Taipan in Australia
• Developed an AFA CyberCamp program, which is now allowing schools and educational organizations to engage students in cybersecurity education year round
• Launched an Elementary School Cyber Education Initiative in 2015 which has been downloaded more than 7,800 times
• Developed CyberGenerations, an initiative designed to promote cybersecurity best practices to for seniors in every community

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CyberPatriot the National Youth Cyber Education Program created by the Air Force Association (AFA) to inspire K-12 students toward careers in cybersecurity or other science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines critical to our nation's future. ​

The Air Force Association is a non-profit, independent, professional military and aerospace education association. Our mission is to promote a dominant United States Air Force and a strong national defense, and to honor Airmen and our Air Force Heritage.