WASHINGTON, July 6, 2012 /PRNewswire-iReach/ — Virginia Tech, in partnership with Booz Allen Hamilton and the U.S. Cyber Challenge, hosted the U.S. Cyber Challenge East Coast Cyber Summer Camp in Arlington, Virginia. The cyber summer camp was conducted June 25-29, 2012, and included four days of instruction by SANS instructors, a career fair, and a cyber-attack/defense competition.

The team consisting of David Berg of Illinois, Robert Nunley of Florida, and Zachary Wisman of Pennsylvania emerged as the winners of the competition.

ISC(2) presented $1,000 scholarships to the winning capture-the-flag team.

The camp curriculum included in-depth workshops on a range of topics, including penetration testing, reverse engineering, and forensics. The week was capped off by a virtual “capture the flag” competition and awards ceremony on the last day. Virginia Governor Robert F. McDonnell (video); Dr. Charles W. Steger, President, Virginia Tech; Dr. T. Charles Clancy, Director of the Ted and Karyn Hume Center for National Security and Technology; Commonwealth Secretary of Technology Jim Duffey; and camp host George Schu, Sr. Vice President, Booz Allen Hamilton.

Avue Technologies unveiled the new USCC online community platform.

Over 50 individuals attended and competed in the Virginia camp. Attendees to the invitation-only camps were selected based in part on their scores from Cyber Quests, an online competition offered through the U.S. Cyber Challenge (USCC) in April that drew over a thousand participants from approximately 400 schools nationwide.  Cyber Camp invitations were also extended to individuals who demonstrated proficiency in other U.S. Cyber Challenge competitions, such as the Cyber Foundations, CyberPatriot, NetWars, and the DC3 Digital Forensics Challenge.

The camp participants gained an understanding of the dimensions of the workforce shortage and learned about opportunities available to them through USCC and its partners.

The 2012 Cyber Summer Camp Series features two national weeklong camps and two statewide camps.  The camps are part of several initiatives underway through USCC, a national campaign focused on identifying and developing cyber security talent to meet the country’s critical cyber security workforce needs.

For more information about the Cyber Camp program and each of the specific camps, visit U.S. Cyber Challenge online at www.uscyberchallenge.org

About U.S. Cyber Challenge:

The mission of the US Cyber Challenge (USCC) is to significantly reduce the shortage in the cyber workforce by serving as the premier program to identify, attract, recruit and place the next generation of cyber security professionals.

USCC’s goal is to find 10,000 of America’s best and brightest to fill   the ranks of cyber security professionals where their skills can be of the greatest value to the nation.

Visit Us Online: www.uscyberchallenge.org