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2021 Deloitte CCI Cyber Camp

A female student helping a male student on a project in a computer lab.

The Commonwealth Cyber Initiative is excited for you to join the Deloitte CCI Cyber Camp where you’ll test your skills, learn some new ones, and polish your resume and job interview techniques to help you build a career in this meaningful field.  

The camp is being held virtually and on three consecutive Saturdays––July 31, August 7, and August 14, 2021––to make it an easier fit for your schedule.  

During the camp you’ll be working with some of the top experts in the nation and meeting students from across Virginia who are as passionate about cybersecurity as you are.  

Read more about what your day will look like and some of the camp’s fun challenges.

Registration for the Deloitte CCI Cyber Camp closes at 5 p.m. ET on May 13, 2021. 

 

Deloitte logo

Thanks to our sponsor, Deloitte.

 

How to Register and Attend the Deloitte CCI Cyber Camp

  1. Click the button below and fill out your information by 5 p.m. ET May 13, 2021. Please note the registration deadline and Qualifying Event dates have changed from when the camp was announced.
  2. Attend the Qualifying Event on May 14, 2021. The morning of May 14, students will receive a link to access the Qualifying Event via the email they used to register. The Qualifying Event will remain open until 6 p.m. ET on May 17, 2021. The Qualifying Event will be open from 8 a.m. ET May 14 until 6 p.m. ET May 17 for you to complete the challenges.
  3. Qualified students based on their performance at the Qualifying Event will be invited to attend the Deloitte CCI Cyber Camp.
A male and female student working in a computer lab.

Eligibility

Students who wish to attend the 3-day camp must meet the following requirements:

  • Must be an undergraduate student attending a public or private Virginia college, university, or community college
  • Must participate in the Qualifying Event. This event is to ensure camp attendees have the necessary basic skills in Excel/Python/R and (possibly) Kali Linux so they can concentrate on enhancing those and other skills.
    • Qualifier categories include:
      • Networking
      • Reconnaissance 
      • Cryptography
      • Web
  • Must receive an invitation from CCI after the Qualifying Event. Students we find eligible to participate in the Deloitte CCI Cyber Camp based on their performance at the Qualifying Event will be invited to attend the Camp. Only students who receive an invitation by CCI after the Qualifying Event may attend the Deloitte CCI Cyber Camp.

Please submit your registration by May 13. On May 14, students will receive a link to access the Qualifying Event, and it will remain open until 6 p.m. ET on May 17, 2021. Invites are then extended to attend the camp. 

Information Session 

The information session about the Qualifying Event and the camp was held online at 1 p.m. ET on April 28, 2021. Please note the times of the qualifying event have changed since the information session was held.

A female competitor during competition.

The camp takes place on three consecutive Saturdays – July 31, August 7, and August 14, 2021.

Camp days will be split into two parts – Part A and Part B.  Part A will be technical skill challenges, time will vary by competition. After Part A is complete, campers have a lunch break. The day resumes with Part B. Part B will be soft skills development; including, mock interviews, an expert panel with Q&A, and a resume/CV building workshop.

Focus areas include:

  • Network Traffic Analysis
  • Reverse Engineering 
  • Cyber Analytics
  • Cryptography
     
Time Saturday
July 31, 2021
Saturday
August 7, 2021
Saturday
August 14, 2021


Part A
9:00 a.m. -

12:00 p.m.

Welcome

Cyber Analytics Challenge

Network Traffic Analysis Challenge

Cryptography Challenge 

Lunch Break
12:00 p.m. -

1:00 p.m.

Lunch
Lunch Lunch

Part B
1:00 p.m. -

4:00 p.m.

 

Resume Writing Workshop, 1-2 p.m.

(mock interviews will take place during the weeks between Aug. 1-13, 2021)

 

Reverse Engineering Challenge

Award Ceremony

1-2 p.m. 

Certificate of Completion

A male student working from a laptop outside.

Participants will receive a certificate of completion. Competition winners will receive prizes, which range from an iPad, Beats by Dr. Dre noise cancelling headphones, and a gift card.   

 

A man working from a laptop.
  • The Deloitte CCI Cyber Camp features three days of immersive cybersecurity experience to enhance students’ essential skills to enter the cybersecurity workforce, such as exposure to cyber analytics, cryptography, and more. 

  • The camp also advances soft skills; including mock interviews, expert panels, and resume/CV workshop. Mock interviews help students gain experience with interviewing so they can become more comfortable. Students will practice speaking about their experience and education, answering questions directly and succinctly, and presenting technical projects. 

  • The expert panel will give insight into how technical skills are applied in business and government real world. The resume/CV workshop will teach students the best way to format and highlight their education and experience for specific jobs.

Lee Allison, Ph.D.
Research Staff Member, Institute for Defense Analyses

Since 2017, Lee Allison has worked as a cybersecurity research analyst at the Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA), primarily supporting the cybersecurity survivability evaluations of Land Warfare and Naval systems (e.g. helicopters, unmanned aircraft, and submarine systems). Allison is also actively involved in IDA's cyber lab where he and other colleagues develop tutorials and presentations for fellow IDA researchers to have a better understanding of cybersecurity practices and techniques.

Allison graduated from Old Dominion University in 2017 with a Ph.D. in high-energy nuclear physics focusing on Cherenkov detectors. 

Lee Allison portrait.

Laura Freeman
Director, Intelligent System Lab, Virginia Tech Hume Center
Associate Professor of Research, Department of Statistics
Assistant Dean for Research for the National Capital Region, College of Science

Laura Freeman's research leverages experimental methods for conducting research that brings together cyber-physical systems, data science, artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning to address critical challenges in national security.  She is also a hub faculty member in the Commonwealth Cyber Initiative and leads research in AI Assurance. She develops new methods for test and evaluation focusing on emerging system technology.  As assistant dean for research for the College of Science, she works to shape research directions and collaborations in across the college.

Laura Freeman portrait.

Previously, Freeman was the assistant director of the Operational Evaluation Division at the Institute for Defense Analyses. In that position, she established and developed an interdisciplinary analytical team of statisticians, psychologists, and engineers to advance scientific approaches to Department of Defense test and evaluation.  During 2018, Freeman served as that acting senior technical advisor for the Director Operational Test and Evaluation (DOT&E).  As the Senior Technical Advisor, Freeman provided leadership, advice, and counsel to all personnel on technical aspects of testing military systems.  She reviewed test strategies, plans, and reports from all systems on DOT&E oversight.

Freeman has a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering, a M.S. in Statistics and a Ph.D. in Statistics, all from Virginia Tech.  Her Ph.D. research was on design and analysis of experiments for reliability data.

Trampas Howe
Adjunct Faculty Member, Virginia Tech

Trampas Howe is an adjunct faculty member at Virginia Tech where he teaches Software Reverse Engineering. In addition, he is an active duty major in the U.S. Air Force where he serves as a cyberspace operations officer and is currently responsible for cyberspace capability acquisition programs at the Strategic Capabilities Office.

Howe has a B.S. in Computer Science from South Dakota State University and a M.S. in Software Engineering from Florida Institute of Technology.

Trampas Howe portrait.

David Oranchak
Software Engineer, Computer Scientist, Cryptographer

David Oranchak is a software engineer who has been building web and database applications for more than 20 years. His interests in puzzles, cryptology, and generative creative works developed into a book on Shinro puzzles and a comprehensive web site dedicated to the unsolved Zodiac Killer cryptograms. His expertise on the Zodiac ciphers has led to his involvement with several Zodiac related documentaries and development of cryptanalysis software for the FBI. In December 2020, he was on a team that cracked the famous unsolved 340-character cryptogram of the Zodiac Killer.

 

David Oranchak portrait.

Stephanie Travis
Director, Senior Military College Cyber Institute

Stephanie Travis brings a 10-year track record of exceptional performance working within the Department of Defense. With an academic background in computer science and cybersecurity, her career and interests focus on assessing and improving cyber security efforts on networks ranging from small enclaves to coordinating cyber security across 46 unique Department of Defense organizations. With several years as an instructor for the United States Air Force, Travis brings a unique focus on ensuring students understand the practical and operational applications of the academics that they learn to improve cyber security and broader cyber operations. 

Travis earned a M.S. in Cybersecurity from Johns Hopkins University and a B.S. in Computer Science from the United States Air Force Academy (USAFA).

Stephanie Travis portrait.

Additionally, Travis is a graduate of the United States Air Force Weapons School (USAFWS) where she became a tactical expert in cyber operations, military planning and integration, and instruction. She is passionate about expanding opportunities in the cyber community and advocating for women in cybersecurity and the information technology community as a whole. 

Travis is a 10-year active-duty Air Force veteran with notable assignments at U.S. Cyber Command’s Joint Force Headquarters – Department of Defense Information Networks, USAFWS (instructor), and the Air Force Computer Emergency Response Team.

Frequently Asked Questions

I missed the informational session on April 28, 2021! Can I watch a recording of it?

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Do we have to register anywhere to participate in the qualifying challenges?

How much experience in cybersecurity is expected for those planning to attend the qualifying event?

  • The cybersecurity challenges range from basic to intermediate level challenges. The qualifier is recommended to students studying cybersecurity, but is open to all students that are interested in the field as well.

Do you need to install any software for this event?

  • No software to installs required; other than an HTML5 browser and Zoom
  • You will need to create a cyber range account

Is there a web browser that is recommended for the event?

  • For the Cyber Range, we recommend Google-Chrome or Firefox.

If I already have a Cyber Range account do I need to create a new one?

  • You do not need to create a new one, but please make sure you update your player name to your first and last name so we can contact you

What study materials would you recommend before the qualifying event?

  • There are four categories with four challenges in each category - networking, reconnaissance, web, and cryptography. There are lots of resources online for these kinds of competitions. Here's an example: https://ctftime.org/ctf-wtf/.

Will we need to be familiar with Linux systems and if so, which ones in particular?

  • Kali Linux

Do we have to register anywhere to participate in the qualifying challenges?

What are the qualifying event dates?

  • Registration for the qualifier closes: May 13, 2021 at 5:00 p.m. ET
  • Qualifying Event Opens: May 14, 2021 at 8:00 a.m. ET
  • Qualifying Event Closes: May 17, 2021 at 6:00 p.m. ET

How much experience in cybersecurity is expected for those planning to attend the qualifying event?

  • The cybersecurity challenges range from basic to intermediate level challenges. The qualifier is recommended to students studying cybersecurity, but is open to all students that are interested in the field as well.

Is the qualifying event jeopardy based?

  • Capture the Flag (CTF) is a special kind of information security competitions. There are three common types of CTFs: Jeopardy, Attack-Defense and mixed.
  • Jeopardy-style CTFs has a couple of questions (tasks) in range of categories. For example, Web, Networking, Crypto, Reconnaissance or something else. Team can gain some points for every solved task. More points for more complicated tasks usually. The next task in chain can be opened only after some team solve previous task. Then the game time is over sum of points shows you a CTF winner.

Are these challenges only cybersecurity focused, or are they to gauge overall programming ability?

  • The qualifying event is cybersecurity focused in four categories – Networking, Reconnaissance, Cryptography, and Web

Are there performance-based challenges?

  • Yes, the qualifier has performance-based challenges

Are you all playing this CTF as a team-based or individual-based event?

  • This is an individual-based event

Will the points distribute equally to these questions? Or there will be a sort of concentration?

  • The points will range based on difficulty

Since we are earning points, the participants with the highest scores will receive an invitation to the event?

  • If the student participating is an undergraduate student from a Virginia-based higher education institution and scores well, then they will ultimately receive an invitation

Please find additional resources here:

What happens after I receive my ticket for registering in the qualifier event?

  • Students will receive an email notification with resources and instructions for the qualifier on May 13. A CCI representative will also be available from May 14 – May 17 to answer any questions students may have

If we don’t qualify right now, can we reapply next year?

  • Yes, please reapply next year!

I am graduating close to May 7th and will have graduated when the camp begins. Does that disqualify me from attending?

  • This does not disqualify you. If you were an undergraduate student when CCI announced the camp, April 21, then you are eligible.

I have no cybersecurity-particular education or experience, but I'd really love to learn about and gain skills in the area. Would this camp be a good fit for me?

  • If you have or have no cybersecurity experience, CCI recommends students to attempt the challenges. The qualifier will be a fun and great learning experience and could help sway students to major or minor in cybersecurity

What are the Deloitte CCI Cyber Camp dates?

  • Saturday, July 31
  • Saturday August 7
  • Saturday, August 14

Is this a virtual event?

  • Yes, this is a 100% virtual event

Will there be informational sessions in addition to challenges?

  • For the Qualifying Event, CCI will send you instructions and resources.
  • For the Deloitte CCI Cyber Camp, Counselors will welcome the students and give a brief overview of their challenge area
  • A counselor will be available for Q&A throughout the allotted time for the challenge