Highline to host 7th annual cyber defense competition

For the Reporter

College students from throughout the Pacific Northwest will flex their cyber muscles in the seventh Annual Pacific Rim Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition March 22–23 at Highline Community College.

The event provides students with real-world challenges while maintaining a corporate network, allowing them better training and preparation for the workforce.

“With the recent stories on data security breaches — such as the recent data breach that compromised Target customers’ credit card numbers — it would be good for the public to know that our students are out here learning how to deal with just those sorts of issues,” said Amelia Phillips, Highline Computer Information Systems faculty member and the Regional Director of the event.

Teams from 13 colleges and universities are scheduled to participate in the annual competition:

DeVry University (Federal Way); Evergreen State College (Olympia); Green River Community College (Auburn); Highline Community College; ITT Technical Institute (Boise, Idaho); Lewis and Clark College (Portland, Ore.); Linfield College (McMinnville, Ore.); University of Idaho (Moscow); Western Washington University (Bellingham); Whatcom Community College (Bellingham); and the University of Washington, which will send teams from each of its three campuses (Seattle, Bothell and Tacoma).

Each team consists of between six and eight students with a cap of two graduate students on each team. Students from at least one high school will be on hand to view the competition and learn what is involved, with the hope that the students will compete in next year’s regional competition.

“During the competition, students may be dealing with power outages, network installations or other challenges while being under attack by professional hackers,” Phillips said. The hackers will be trained professionals from government agencies, National Guard, Navy’s Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command and local industry.

Open to two- and four-year colleges and universities in Washington, Oregon and Idaho, the Pacific Rim Competition serves as the regional competition for the National Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition. The Pacific Rim region boasts national status with the University of Washington Seattle winning the regional and national competitions in 2011 and 2012.

This national championship is April 25–27 in San Antonio, Texas.