Hack on! Top 10 Cybersecurity Competitions for Students

National Cyber League Competition

The biannual National Cyber League Competition (NCL) is a top cybersecurity competition where students can hone their cloud-based skills. NCL challenges may resemble malware or mimic actual cyber attacks using various resources, such as web servers that could be compromised.

All players compete at once during practice, individual, and team games. Students at least 13 years old who are enrolled in a U.S. high school, college, apprenticeship, or bootcamp may compete.

Registration usually happens in the fall.

President’s Cup Cybersecurity Competition by CISA

The President’s Cup cybersecurity competition has two tracks: offensive and defensive. Participants can enroll as individuals, participating in one or both tracks.

Teams take on tasks from eight in-demand work roles, including cyber defense incident responder, network operations specialist, and exploitation analyst. The President’s Cup cybersecurity competition is open to U.S. federal employees, including federal civilian employees, active-duty military members, and the National Guard.

Individual registration runs from August to September.

Global Cyberlympics

The Global Cyberlympics is an international hacking competition with categories including digital forensics, network and service exploitation, and web applications. This competition reinforces teamwork and includes challenges that span various IT security aspects.

Competitors must enter as a team of up to six participants. Each team needs a designated captain who acts as the liaison before and during the competition.

This cybersecurity challenge awarded three cash prizes at the finals in 2019.

CyberPatriot

CyberPatriot is a national cyber defense competition that challenges teams to find and fix vulnerabilities in virtual operating systems. The teams receive a network security challenge and a Cisco networking challenge over a six-hour timeframe.

Middle and high school students can enter the competition, with 2-6 competitors enrolled in the participating school. They may have one adult coach, a technical mentor, and a team assistant.

Registration for the competition usually closes in October.

National Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition

The National Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition (CCDC) allows students to apply theory and practical skills. CCDC competitions put student teams in administrative and cybersecurity roles for an existing network with users, servers, and internet services.

Competitors must be full-time students of the college they represent. They can only be a member of one team per season. Each team may have eight members with no more than two graduate students.

Registration for the 2023 CCDC season is open through January 2023.

Panoply

Panoply is a timed network, assessment, defense, and security competition, in which student teams compete for resources and critical services. A team must take possession of a resource, then secure it against attacks from other teams.

In Panoply’s academic edition, teams need 2-4 members registered at the college they represent. Team members must have less than two years of paid experience in the field.

The University of Texas at San Antonio’sCenter for Infrastructure Assurance & Security develops and hosts multiple cyber defense competitions.

Capture the Flag by CSAW

Capture the Flag by CSAW is a jeopardy-style competition for college students interested in a cybersecurity career. The challenges help students develop their skills in binary exploitation, cryptography, reverse engineering, and industrial control systems.

Teams need 2-4 members enrolled in a school’s accredited undergrad or graduate program. The competition allows mixed teams with students from different colleges.

The qualification round is online in September, and the final round in November occurs online and in person in the U.S. and Canada.

High School Cybersecurity Competition

The Lockdown Cybersecurity Competition for High Schools is a hands-on competition at the University at Buffalo. Student teams must complete various assigned tasks and defend a small

network of systems from attack in a simulated environment.

High school students of all skill levels can join this high school cybersecurity competition. Teams need a faculty advisor, and only 12 teams can sign up, with a maximum of five students per team.

The competition occurs online and in person at the University at Buffalo in December.

Cyber Quests

Cyber Quests are online competitions featuring an artifact for analysis and a series of quiz questions. Some challenges focus on vulnerable web servers, and others highlight forensic and packet capture analysis.

Cyber Quests are part of the U.S. Cyber Challenge, supported by the Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate. The competition is open to U.S. high school, college, and post-graduate students.

SANS Cyber Range

SANS Cyber Ranges curate an environment where teams can practice skills on live production equipment and systems. Teams play Capture-the-Flag and handle real-world simulations from various disciplines. These include cyber defense, cloud security, digital forensics, and offensive operations.

SANS Cyber Ranges provide challenges for all skill levels with increasingly complex situations. Individuals and teams of up to five are eligible to participate.