Due to the impact of COVID-19 and the social distancing requirements CyberStart challenge will not result in a summer internship opportunity.

The top 10 scorers in the round 2 challenge have been contacted. They have been given access to the SANs Security Essentials training. 

Estimated 100-110 hours of curriculum. All students that participated in Round 2 have received a certificate of participation. Thank you for participating!

Timeline

February 10th - March 6th

Challenge level number one is over.  Active participants for the next round will be contacted via email.

March 20th

If you enjoy CyberGo, you may be selected to the next level of challenge, CyberStart which provides cybersecurity training materials via more online games.

April 5th

End of CyberStart.

Summer Internship Opportunity Cancelled

Due to the impact of COVID-19 and the social distancing requirements CyberStart challenge will not result in a summer internship opportunity. 

May 18th - 22nd

Students that participated in the Round 2 Game will receive Certificate of Completion.

May 25 - June 1

Students identified as finalist from Round 2 will receive access to the Essentials Curriculum in lieu of the internship.

Thank you for participating!

Essentials Curriculum

SANS CyberStart Essentials is presented as an online learning platform with 48 modules containing approximately 120 hours of content and labs. The elements and activities of CyberStart Essentials are designed to enable you to:

• Understand computer operating systems, hardware and software components
• Define methods of encryption and encoding and their impact on data security
• Define common Internet components including addressing, protocols, tools, and methods of securing
• Install and understand Linux fundamentals, command line tools, and security
• Configure and understand Windows (Server and Desktop) fundamentals, PowerShell, and security
• Examine the legal and ethical considerations of cyber security
• Understand common security vulnerabilities in systems and applications
• Identify techniques used in web hacking, reconnaissance, exploitation, and other attacks
• Define methods and tools used in forensic investigation and incident response
• Understand programming (Python and C) fundamentals

Background

American University was selected along with 8 other universities, supported by a National Science Foundation grant to access SANS CyberStart curriculum. There are three modules: beginning with the 60-minute game called CyberGo. From there, selected students will be invited to explore the next level: CyberStart Game which provides multiple scenarios to pique curiosity and further explore untapped cybersecurity talents. Finally, for those students selected to work for the CyberSecurity team at American University, they will be given exclusive access to CyberStart Essentials, which includes an estimated 100-120 hours of real world, skill building materials. Students will work with AU’s cybersecurity team building their cybersecurity career skills.

Sponsors

• SANS Institute
• National Science Foundation
• American University’s Office of Information Technology Security team
• Kogod Cybersecurity Governance Center