Sponsored by DOE’s Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response (CESER), the CyberForce Competition is DOE’s fourth cyber defense competition designed to develop the next generation of cybersecurity professionals to help defend and bolster our nation’s critical energy infrastructure and ensure our energy security.

“The energy infrastructure we depend upon as a Nation is under the constant threat of cyberattacks,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry in a video broadcast to competitors across DOE’s national laboratories. ​“As the Sector-Specific Agency for cybersecurity in the energy sector, guarding against those threats is my highest priority, and this competition is becoming a key element in developing our next generation of cyber warriors.”

This year’s competition featured approximately 70 teams representing 24 states and Puerto Rico, with participants ranging from undergraduate freshmen to Ph.D. candidates. Argonne National Laboratory was the lead lab with participation from six other National Labs, including: Brookhaven National Laboratory, Idaho National Laboratory, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, and Sandia National Laboratories.

“Developing the next generation of cybersecurity experts is a critical part of our mission within CESER,” said Assistant Secretary for CESER Karen S. Evans. ​“The CyberForce Competition provides the opportunity for us to engage our future defenders and let them know we not only support, but also commend, their interest in a field that is critical to our national security.”

The CyberForce Competition challenged college and university students with defending a simulated oil transportation network, a power delivery system, and a high-performance computing system against attacks by experts at the National Labs, the private sector, and the National Guard. The challenge was augmented by anomalies and constraints designed to replicate those commonly found in real-world systems.

“The mission of the national labs is to secure America’s energy future,” said Paul Kearns, Argonne’s director. ​“Watching these students defend against real-world scenarios, in real time, makes me confident that our country will have the cyber workforce we need to protect our energy assets.”

Winners of the 2018 CyberForce Competition include:

Overall nationwide winner:

University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida

Regional winners:

From Argonne National Laboratory:

1^st Place – Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas 

From Brookhaven National Laboratory:

1^st Place – University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Baltimore, Maryland  

From Idaho National Laboratory:

1^st Place – Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah 

From Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory:

1^st Place – University of California, Davis, California

From Oak Ridge National Laboratory:

1^st Place – University of South Alabama, Mobile, Alabama 

From Pacific Northwest National Laboratory:

1^st Place – Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon 

From Sandia National Laboratories:

1^st Place – Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas  

More information on DOE’s CyberForce Competition can be found HERE.