Cyber Defense Comp.
CyberPatriot’s National Youth Cyber Defense Competition challenges teams of high school and middle school students to find and fix cybersecurity vulnerabilities in virtual operating systems. Using a proprietary competition system, teams are scored on how secure they make the system. Top teams advance through the online round of competition, and the best of the best advance to the in-person National Finals Competition. Each team has two challenges during the six-hour competition period: the Network Security Challenge (in which the team must find and secure vulnerabilities in Windows and Linux operating systems); and the Cisco Networking Challenge (which consists of an online quiz and virtual networking exercise based on specific training materials). CyberPatriot is designed for any student regardless of prior cybersecurity knowledge.
How do I get started? Check out the Cyber Patriot website.
How do I expand this narrative arc?
Spend a summer in the rigorous Wharton Data Science Academy.
Get involved with Gamers Gift, a non-profit organization created by high school students that aims to use video games and other electronic media to alleviate some of the psychological stress caused by prolonged hospital stays, loneliness, or poverty.
Think about some of the practical elements of data science and then craft solutions at your school. Better yet, organize a hackathon where other teens with coding skills come together to hack solutions to common challenges.
Create real change in your community by building an easy-to-use app that tackles a local problem. For example, do people have trouble deciding what is recyclable (if you’re rolling your eyes, trust us, it’s more complicated than you realize)? There should be an app for that? Or do people want the community calendar at their fingertips? It would be simple for you to build a user-friendly app.
HOT TIP:This is a really interesting (and practical!) competition for a teen interested in computer science and programming. It’s also a way to get major credibility if you’re interested in an IT job during the summer or down the road. You’ll get more mileage if computer science is part of your narrative arc, but this is a cool opportunity for pretty much anyone.