Background
While similar to other cyber defense competitions in many aspects, the Mid-Atlantic Regional CCDC, as part of the National CCDC, is unique in that it focuses on the operational aspect of managing and protecting an existing network infrastructure. While other exercises examine the abilities of a group of students to design, configure, and protect a network over the course of an entire semester, this competition is focused on the more operational task of assuming administrative and protective duties for an existing "commercial" network. Teams will be scored based on their ability to detect and respond to outside threats, maintain availability of existing services such as mail servers and web servers, respond to business requests such as the addition or removal of additional services, and balance security needs against business needs.

The teams are physically co-located in the same building. Each team is given physically identical computer configurations at the start of the competition. Throughout the competition, the teams have to ensure the systems supply the specified services while under attack from a volunteer Red Team. In addition, the teams have to satisfy periodic "injects" that simulate business activities IT staff must deal with in the real world.

Mission
"The goal of a Cyber Defense Competition is to provide hands-on application of information assurance skills; as such, they enhance students' understanding of both theory and practice. They provide students a laboratory in which to experiment, just as in other fields of science. They fulfill the same role as capstone projects in a traditional engineering program (i.e., projects that allow students to synthesize and integrate knowledge acquired through course work and other learning experiences into a project usually conducted in a workplace). The competition combines legal, ethical, forensics, and technical components while emphasizing a team approach. Such experiential education increases the knowledge and expertise of future professionals who may be in a position to contribute to the secure design and operation of critical information and its supporting infrastructure" (from Exploring a National Cyber Security Exercise for Colleges and Universities, Lance J. Hoffman and Daniel Ragsdale, 2004).

Event objectives:

• Build a meaningful mechanism by which institutions of higher education may evaluate their programs;
• Provide an educational venue in which students are able to apply the theory and skills they have learned in their course work;
• Foster a spirit of teamwork, ethical behavior, and effective communication both within and across teams; and
• Open a dialog and awareness among participating institutions and students.