"US Department of Energy Names University of Central Florida as the Winner of the CyberForce Competition"
The US Department of Energy (DOE) announced the University of Central Florida as the national winner of its seventh CyberForce Competition, which challenged 120 US college and university teams from 33 states and the District of Columbia to stop a simulated cyberattack. David Turk, the Deputy Secretary of Energy, emphasized the importance of building and maintaining a highly-skilled cybersecurity workforce to protect and defend the nation's energy systems as the development of the clean energy grid of the future continues and cyber threats grow. The CyberForce Competition is a part of DOE's CyberForce Program, which aims to foster and build the next generation of energy sector cyber defenders. Through the program, students can develop and strengthen skills essential to a career focused on protecting the nation's critical infrastructure, such as power plants. Each CyberForce Competition is an interactive event based on a scenario where participants can test their cyber defense skills. This year's scenario challenged participants to harden and secure a hydropower company's systems as well as systems belonging to its recently acquired subsidiaries against a cyberattack while still providing service to customers. The University of California, Santa Cruz, won second place, and Pennsylvania State University won third place in the competition. This article continues to discuss the goals and success of the CyberForce Competition, and the results of this year's event.