February 7, 2006

Fountainhead College of Technology's (FCT) Center for Information Assurance & Cybersecurity Training (IACT) will sponsor the first Southeast Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition (SCCDC) to be held at Kennesaw State University.

The SCCDC is part of a larger initiative to facilitate the development of a regular, national cybersecurity exercise. The first southwestern Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition (CCDC) was hosted by the University of Texas at San Antonio's Center for Infrastructure Assurance and Security. After attending a presentation given by UTSA members, Kennesaw State volunteered to host the southeastern event. Regional winners will compet in a national competition.

From the KSU website: "While similar to other cyber defense competitions in many aspects, the SECCDC, as part of 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 will be 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."

To learn more about the competition, visit: http://infosec.kennesaw.edu/SECCDC/index.html

About Fountainhead College of Technology's (FCT) Center for Information Assurance & Cybersecurity Training (IACT)

Fountainhead College of Technology, formerly Tennessee Institute of Electronics, was founded in 1947 and is committed to using it resources to significantly contribute to efforts to secure the nation's critical infrastructure. In 1999 the college began offering an associate's degree in Information Technology with curriculum developed to include information security training. In 2002 the college began development of a baccalaureate degree in Network Security and Forensics; and in 2003 Fountainhead College of Technology became the first college in the southeast to offer a computer security focused baccalaureate degree. The mission of the IACT center is to develop and maintain a strong information assurance curriculum that adheres to national standards, and to also address the cybersecurity needs of the community by offering training and support for Fountainhead College of Technology students, staff, and faculty; local law enforcement; government agencies; and information technology professionals.

For more information, please visit the official IACT website at: http://www.iawire.org, or contact Tammy Alexander, Program Coordinator at tam@iawire.org.