ARLINGTON, Va., May 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — The Air Force Association’s CyberPatriot program announced this week the winners of the twelfth season of its National Youth Cyber Defense Competition.

CyberPatriot XII began in October 2019 with nearly 7,000 registered teams among the Open, All Service, and Middle School divisions of the competition.

An in-person National Finals Competition, originally scheduled for March 20-22, 2020 in Bethesda, Maryland, was cancelled due to COVID-19. The CyberPatriot Program Office quickly adapted the competition from an in-person event to a virtual event, which took place on May 2^nd.

CyberPatriot worked with partners at the University of Texas at San Antonio’s Center for Infrastructure Assurance and Security to implement a virtual private network that allowed students to compete from their own homes. Each team competed in both the Network Security Master Challenge and the Cisco NetAcad Challenge.

Results were announced in a live-streamed awards ceremony on May 3^rd where the following winners were announced:

CyberAegis Strange Quark II from Del Norte High School (San Diego, CA) won the national championship in the Open Division

TXPatriot Anime for All from the Engineering and Technologies Academy at Roosevelt High School Army JROTC (San Antonio, TX) won the national championship in the All Service Division

CyberAegis Polariton from Design 39 Campus (San Diego, CA) won the national championship in the Middle School Division.

“Although we were sorely disappointed to be unable to host our CyberPatriot National Finals in person, I am thrilled that we were able to offer national finalists an in-home national finals competition.  The students competed at the highest levels to determine our national champions,” said Bernie Skoch, AFA’s National Commissioner of CyberPatriot. “The finalists were able to adapt and remain flexible, and I applaud each of them for their hard work throughout the season.  We are grateful to our partners at CIAS and to our sponsors for their understanding and flexibility.”

The full list of winning teams for CyberPatriot XII is as follows:

OPEN DIVISION
National Champion: Team CyberAegis Strange Quark II from Del Norte High School (San Diego, CA)
Runner-Up: Team CyberAegis Charm from Del Norte High School (San Diego, CA)
Third Place: Team Troy Tech Support from Troy High School (Fullerton, CA)

ALL SERVICE DIVISION
National Champion: Team TXPatriot Anime for All from the Engineering and Technologies Academy at Roosevelt High School Army JROTC (San Antonio, TX)
Runner-Up: Team code%20purple from St. Augustine Composite Squadron Civil Air Patrol (St. Augustine, FL)
Third Place: Team TXPatriot Bears from the Engineering and Technologies Academy at Roosevelt High School Army JROTC (San Antonio, TX)

MIDDLE SCHOOL DIVISION
National Champion: Team CyberAegis Polariton from Design 39 Campus (San Diego, CA)
Runner-Up: Team CyberAegis Alpha from Oak Valley Middle School (San Diego, CA)
Third Place: Team CyberAegis Electron from Oak Valley Middle School (San Diego, CA)

AT&T COMPONENT WINNER
Team CyberAegis Strange Quark II from Del Norte High School (San Diego, CA)

OPEN DIVISION CISCO NETACAD CHALLENGE
First place: CyberAegis Strange Quark II from Del Norte High School (San Diego, CA)
Runner-Up: Team Troy Tech Support from Troy High School (Fullerton, CA)
Third Place: CyberAegis Pentaquark from Del Norte High School (San Diego, CA)

ALL SERVICE DIVISION CISCO NETACAD CHALLENGE
First place: Team TXPatriot Anime for All from the Engineering and Technologies Academy at Roosevelt High School Army JROTC (San Antonio, TX)
Runner-Up: Team Subtle Cyber Traits from Troy High School Navy JROTC (Fullerton, CA)
Third Place: Team code%20purple from St. Augustine Composite Squadron Civil Air Patrol (St. Augustine, FL)

MIDDLE SCHOOL DIVISION CISCO NETWORKING CHALLENGE WINNER
Team CyberAegis Polariton from Design 39 Campus (San Diego, CA)

CYBERPATRIOT ALL-AMERICAN AWARD
Charissa Kim, Troy High School’s Navy JROTC unit (Fullerton, CA)

This CyberPatriot All-American award is given only to those students who qualify for the National Finals Competition for all four years of their high school careers. Kim is the first female to achieve this honor.

Northrop Grumman awarded $52,000 to the Open and All Service winners of CyberPatriot XII, bringing its total scholarship contribution to more than $500,000 since becoming Presenting Sponsor in 2011. Scholarships are awarded to each member of the first place, runner-up, and third place teams in the Open and All Service divisions.

Cisco Systems awarded $52,000 to Open and All Service winners of the Cisco NetAcad challenge of CyberPatriot XII.  Scholarships are awarded to each member of the first place, runner-up, and third place teams in the Cisco NetAcad Challenge in the Open and All Service divisions.

CyberPatriot, the nation’s largest and fastest growing youth cyber education program, is AFA’s flagship STEM program dedicated to strengthening cyber skills among youth. The program features the National Youth Cyber Defense Competition for high school and middle school students, AFA CyberCamps, an Elementary School Cyber Education Initiative, the Cyber Education Literature Series, and CyberGenerations, a program promoting senior citizen cyber awareness.

Supporters of CyberPatriot include the Northrop Grumman Foundation, CyberPatriot’s Presenting Sponsor, as well as Cyber Diamond sponsors AT&T, Boeing, Cisco, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and Microsoft; Cyber Gold sponsors Air Force Reserve, BNY Mellon, Facebook, Symantec, and the USAA Foundation; and Cyber Silver sponsors Air Force STEM, American Military University, Capital One, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Leidos, Mastercard, University of Maryland Global Campus, and VMware.

To learn more about CyberPatriot’s programs and initiatives, and to sign up for CyberPatriot XIII, visit www.uscyberpatriot.org.

Northrop Grumman and the Northrop Grumman Foundation are dedicated to expanding and enhancing sustainable science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education opportunities for students globally. In 2018, the organizations contributed nearly $20 million to diverse, STEM-focused organizations and programs. Our partnerships focus on engineering and technology-based initiatives that excite, engage and educate students and provide professional development opportunities for their teachers, with an emphasis on middle school and university level programs. Defending cyber networks, engineering autonomous vehicles and exploring space are some of the capabilities students develop as they experience the excitement of STEM through programs supported by Northrop Grumman and the Northrop Grumman Foundation. Initiatives such as the Northrop Grumman Foundation Teachers Academy provide professional development opportunities for STEM teachers, who inspire students to pursue STEM careers. 

Northrop Grumman is a leading global security company providing innovative systems, products and solutions in autonomous systems, cyber, C4ISR, space, strike, and logistics and modernization to customers worldwide. Please visit news.northropgrumman.com and follow us on Twitter, @NGCNews, for more information.

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, a strong national defense, to honor and support Airmen and the Air Force Family, and to remember and respect our Air Force Heritage.

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SOURCE Air Force Association