Third Annual NICE Workshop Adds a Virtual Cyber Threat Training and Competition Track

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is offering a strong finale to National Cybersecurity Awareness month with its the third annual National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE) Workshop, Oct. 30 through Nov. 1, at its Gaithersburg, Md., campus.

NIST coordinates NICE, an interagency initiative focused on enhancing cybersecurity in the United States by raising national awareness about risks in cyberspace; improving cyber behavior, skills and knowledge in general; and cultivating a globally competitive cybersecurity workforce.

The theme of the 2012 workshop is "Shaping the Future of Cybersecurity Education—Connecting the Dots in Cyberspace." It will focus on making cyber connections between government, academia, industry and the public to help NICe achieve its goals.

The workshop will feature four tracks focused on those goals:

• Raising Awareness: Online Safety Starts with You!,
• Education, Professionalism and Certifications,
• Training and Maintaining a Competitive Cybersecurity Workforce, and
• The Role of Cybersecurity in Competitions.

For the first time, the workshop will include a cybersecurity competition track with sessions focused on the role of competitions in NICE. Workshop attendees will observe students competing in an event called the Cyber Elite Challenge.

Student competitors will "harden" a network to protect against potential threats, assess and identify potential network vulnerabilities, diagnose and fix common vulnerabilities, and identify threats from routine network traffic – all part of the day-to-day reality for IT security professionals. Hosts of the competition in addition to NICE are the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of State Bureau of Diplomatic Security.

More information on the workshop, including an agenda and registration form is available at csrc.nist.gov/nice/2012workshop.