Past Winners

2023

Stanford University California Polytechnic State University, Pomona  DePaul University
Other Finalists: University of North Florida, Dakota State University, Northeastern University, University of Texas, Brigham Young University, Oregon State University, University of Virginia

2022

University of Central Florida Dakota State University Stanford University
Other Finalists: Oregon State University, University of Texas, Brigham Young University, Northeastern University, DePaul University, Liberty University, University of Virginia

2021

University of Central Florida DePaul University George Mason
Other Finalists: Rochester Institute of Technology, University of Texas, Brigham Young University, University of Washington, University of Maryland Baltimore County, College of Charleston, University of California Irvine

2020

University of Virginia University of Central Florida Stanford University
Other Finalists: Rochester Institute of Technology, University of Tulsa, Red Rocks Community College, DePaul University, University of Washington, University of Maryland Baltimore County, Kennesaw State University

2019

University of Virginia University of Central Florida Rochester Institute of Technology
Other Finalists: University of Tulsa, Utah Valley University, Dakota State University, University of Washington, Stanford University, University of Alaska Anchorage, Baldwin Wallace University

2018

University of Virginia University of Central Florida Dakota State University
Other Finalists: Baylor University, Utah Valley University, Indiana Tech, University of Washington, California State University Northridge, University of Alaska Fairbanks, University at Buffalo

2017

University of Maryland Baltimore County University of Tulsa Brigham Young University
Other Finalists: California State University Northridge, University of Washington, Montana Tech, University of South Alabama, Rochester Institute of Technology, University of Alaska Fairbanks, DePaul University

2016

University of Central Florida Brigham Young University DePaul University
Other Finalists: Cal Poly Pomona, Columbia Basin College, Dakota State University, Liberty University, Northeastern University, University of Alaska Anchorage, University of Tulsa

2015

University of Central Florida University of California at Berkeley Rochester Institute of Technology
Other Finalists: DePaul University, ITT Technical Institute, Southern Utah University, University of Alaska Fairbanks, University of Maryland Baltimore County, University of Nebraska Kearney, University of Texas at San Antonio

2014

University of Central Florida Rochester Institute of Technology University of Alaska at Fairbanks
Other Finalists: Air Force Academy, Dakota State University, Northern Kentucky University, Southern Methodist University, Towson University, University of California at Berkeley, Western Washington University

2013

Rochester Institute of Technology Dakota State University Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
Other Finalists: Air Force Academy, Cal Poly Pomona, Millersville University, Oklahoma State University, University of Alaska at Fairbanks, University of Central Florida, University of Washington

2012

University of Washington Air Force Academy Texas A&M University
Other Finalists: Cal Poly Pomona, Rochester Institute of Technology, St. Cloud State University, Towson University, University of Alaska at Fairbanks, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, University of Wyoming

2011

University of Washington Texas A&M University University of Louisville
Other Finalists: Air Force Academy, Cal Poly Pomona, Indiana Tech, Rochester Institute of Technology, University of Maryland, University of Wyoming

2010

Northeastern University University of Louisville Cal Poly Pomona
Other Finalists: DePaul University, Montana Tech, Texas A&M University, Towson University, University of Washington

2009

Baker College at Flint Northeastern University Texas A&M University
Other Finalists: Cal Poly Pomona, Dakota State University, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, University of Pittsburgh, University of Washington

2008

Baker College at Flint Texas A&M University University of Louisville
Other Finalists: Community College of Baltimore County, Mt. San Antonio College, Rochester Institute of Technology

2007

Texas A&M University Millervsille University University of Louisville
Other Finalists: Indiana Tech

2006

University of North Carolina at Charlotte Southern Illinois University Millersville University
Other Finalists: University of Texas at San Antonio

 

CCDC Mission

The mission of the Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition (CCDC) system is to provide institutions with an information assurance or computer security curriculum a controlled, competitive environment to assess their student's depth of understanding and operational competency in managing the challenges inherent in protecting a corporate network infrastructure and business information systems.

 CCDC Events are designed to:

  • 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 practical skills they have learned in their course work
  • Foster a spirit of teamwork, ethical behavior, and effective communication both within and across teams
  • Create interest and awareness among participating institutions and students

CCDC competitions ask student teams to assume administrative and protective duties for an existing “commercial” network – typically a small company with 50+ users, 7 to 10 servers, and common Internet services such as a web server, mail server, and e-commerce site.  Each team begins the competition with an identical set of hardware and software and is scored 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.  Throughout the competition an automated scoring engine is used to verify the functionality and availability of each team’s services on a periodic basis and traffic generators continuously feed simulated user traffic into the competition network.  A volunteer red team provides the “external threat” all Internet-based services face and allows the teams to match their defensive skills against live opponents.

History of CCDC

On February 27 and 28, 2004, a group of educators, students, government and industry representatives gathered in San Antonio, Texas, to discuss the feasibility and desirability of establishing regular cyber security exercises with a uniform structure for post-secondary level students.  During their discussions this group suggested the goals of creating a uniform structure for cyber security exercises might include the following:

 

  1. Providing a template from which any educational institution can build a cyber security exercise
  2. Providing enough structure to allow for competition among schools, regardless of size or resources
  3. Motivating more educational institutions to offer students an opportunity to gain practical experience in information assurance

The group also identified concerns related to limiting participation to post-secondary students, creating a level playing field to eliminate possible advantages due to hardware and bandwidth differences, having a clear set of rules, implementing a fair and impartial scoring system, and addressing possible legal concerns.

In an effort to help facilitate the development of a regular, national level cyber security exercise, the Center for Infrastructure Assurance and Security at the University of Texas at San Antonio agreed to host the first Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition (CCDC) for the Southwestern region in April of 2005.  While similar to other cyber defense competitions in many aspects, the 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 are 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 Center for Infrastructure Assurance and Security (CIAS) is a multidisciplinary research center within the College of Sciences (https://www.utsa.edu/sciences/) at The University of Texas at San Antonio (www.utsa.edu).  The CIAS has been a pioneer and global leader in cyber security competitions since 2005 with the creation and operation of the Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition, Panoply, eSentinel, Hivestorm, and ROTC-C3 competition programs.  The CIAS also co-founded and provides technology support for the Air Force Association’s CyberPatriot competition program.

CyberPatriot

In addition to creating the CCDC program, CIAS is founding partner and lead technical developer for the Nation's largest high school cyber defense competition, CyberPatriot.

CyberPatriot



Award Winning!

Visa Global Security Award
The CCDC program has a strong record of success and has been praised by both the private and public sector for bringing the worlds of operations and education together in order to better prepare our graduates for the future. 
 
CCDC has been recognized for its excellence in the Presidential Cyberspace Policy Review and by 111th Congress in House Resolution 1244. In 2012 we were honored to receive the inaugural "Leadership in Security" award from Visa
 

A Little Offense

 While NCCDC staff maintains that a solid defensive mindset is a critical skill to arm students with, we recognize the importance of being able to self assess your critical infrastructure. With that in mind we created Panoply, a king of the hill competition where players must capture multiple targets as well as secure them from other players in order to win.

Panoply