Cyberbit is launching its second International Cyber League (ICL) in 2022. Our last ICL drew over 200 teams from the corporate and government sectors including MetLife, AT&T and the USAF and got raving reviews. This time the tournament, called ICL: Collegiate Cup, is designed exclusively for students in higher education. 

A New Type of Cyber Security Competition

With so many cyber security competitions being offered for students, why is ICL unique and how does it serve the needs of students and higher education institutions?  

With job openings in cybersecurity reaching over 2.72 million globally and 714,000 in North America, the industry is seeing an unprecedented need for new cybersecurity experts. Higher education institutions are expected to be the primary source of fresh cybersecurity workforce to fill in this gap. However, only 27% of cybersecurity leaders feel that recent graduates in cybersecurity are well prepared. The reason is the misalignment between the needs of today’s cybersecurity leaders, and the way current academic cyber security programs are designed.  

The next-gen information security expert is no longer a technical expert, focused on configuring tools or blocking malicious IP’s, today’s cyber defenders require a first responder skill set. They are expected to possess a broad set of skills that includes cybersecurity controls, recent threat vectors, the MITRE ATT&CK Framework, cloud security, malware analysis, incident response, threat hunting, regulation, and compliance. They need soft skills like teamwork, communication, and critical thinking. But education programs have not changed and are still focused on network security, IT skills and ethical hacking, suitable for the cyber expert of yesterday. Once hired, these graduates spend months learning on the job before  they are operational.  

We’ve created the ICL: Collegiate Cup to immerse students in real-world attacks, just like the ones they will experience on the job. We enable this with a hyper-realistic cyber. An advanced skill development platform used by F500 corporates, governments like the State of Illinois, and leading higher education institutions including Purdue University, Miami Dade College, the University of Maine at Augusta, Yeshiva University’s Katz School and others to deliver next-gen, experiential training and learning.  

Unlike conventional competitions ICL Collegiate Cup does not focus on hacking, basic network security or IT skills, but on cyber defense and incident response skills. For the first time, students will know if they are truly job ready, and will be challenged in hyper-realistic attack scenarios that will require the full set of skills they will need on the job, including: technical skills, teamwork skills, even using commercial security tools like a SIEM, firewall, and endpoint security tools. 

Teams who will succeed at ICL can confidently say they are prepared for a career in cyber defense.  

How Does ICL Work? 

The ICL competition will consist of 2 rounds, taking place on Cyberbit’s hyper-realistic cyber range. 

In the first round each team member will complete a 1-hour challenge (“cyber lab”) as an individual. Top teams will move on to the final round, consisting of a three-hour, live-fire team challenge that simulates an end-to-end cyber-attack. Students will demonstrate their ability to detect, investigate and respond to a cyber-attack using the tools of the trade, as well their ability to work as a team, communicate, work under pressure, and demonstrate critical thinking.  

The tournament is open for students from anywhere around the world who are enrolled in a bachelor’s or associate cyber security program at an institution of higher learning at least through November 30^th, 2022.  The winners will proudly wear the title of “Higher Education’s Best Cyber Defense Team”. 

Winners and prizes 

Winning team members will also each take home a MacBook Air. Runners up will receive high value prizes that include Apple watches iPads and BOSE Frames Tenor audio sunglasses. 

ICL Collegiate Cup starts mid-October. If you are a cyber security education leader and would like to register your students, please choose the four students you’d like to register and share the ICL page  link below. Once we have four qualified team members registered, we will confirm you for ICL.  

Register here

Good luck! 

Sharon Rosenman 
Chief Marketing Officer 
Cyberbit