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Exploring ITS Cybersecurity Education

Join our Operation K12 team to explore the ITS Cybersecurity Certification.

In this webinar, we’ll explore the standards, alignment, and benefits of the ITS Cybersecurity Industry Certification.  We will review the content of the certification and discuss resources and integration.  Participants will have access to free instructional materials, practice tests, and test vouchers.

register
2024-02-12T13:32:16-05:00January 22, 2024|

PARTNER EVENT: CAE 2024 VIVID Cybersecurity Competition

CAE College and University Students – Register Your Teams for the VIVID 2024 Cybersecurity Competition!

The Virtual Internship and Varied Innovative Demonstrations (VIVID) Coalition, comprised of the University of Alabama in Huntsville, Augusta University, University of Arizona, and Florida International University, is excited to announce the 2024 VIVID Cyber Competition.

This competition is an opportunity for students at CAE institutions to strengthen their resumes and showcase their skills in front of U.S. government practitioners.

Teams of five will compete in the virtual cyber competition on March 11-14, 2024. The top 15 teams will be invited to the CAE Annual Colloquium for the top prize and title of “Overlord Champion”.

Important Dates
  • Team registration deadline: January 31, 2024 (accepted teams will be notified on this day)
  • Virtual competition: March 11-14, 2024
Competition phases
  • The top 15 teams from the virtual March event will proceed to the live event.
  • Live event at the CAE Annual Colloquium in October 2024.
Team Information
  • All 5 team members must be students from the same CAE school
  • Multiple teams from the same college or university are allowed
Cost
  • Free registration for all participating teams.
  • Travel stipends provided to offset live event travel costs.
register your team
Competition Details
Red Team

The hubris of mankind knows no end. How a group of academics think creating machine intelligence is a good thing is beyond belief. The danger of artificial intelligence is well known. Just look at the Forbes article[1] that tells us the risks or even Scientific American[2] which describes the menace of our digital overlords. They even had the audacity to call it “Overlord”; we must stop them!

Fortunately for us, a member of the AU research team that created this monstrosity sees the danger and has told us there is a hidden backdoor to their system that allows remote access. It’s great having an insider that shares our beliefs! Additionally, the creators were at least smart enough to build in an “off switch” but it is protected by an authentication system that needs a digital key. With this knowledge, we can enter the Overlord system and steal the key. Once we have it, we can shut down this monstrosity. Unfortunately, our inside person does not have the credentials to get to the key, so we must break into their system.

Our incident response tasks:

  • Find artifacts in the system indicating threat activity and indicators of compromise
  • Detect the threat actors
  • Respond to any malicious activity
  • Mitigate threats
  • Report what you find

Apex University (AU) announces their new artificial intelligence (AI) research system, Overlord! Professor Rosie Meebs, head of the project, declares “this is a new generation of AI that will reach heights never reached before. Our new code is faster and learns better than anything in existence. We project that in less than 8 months, Overlord will reach singularity and be a true intelligence. We expect once that happens, our AI will be able to solve any number of problems from creating fusion to solving the climate change crisis. Any negative comments are just jealousy, and we know there will be no problems once Overlord comes online. We will turn on Overlord on 1 March 2024 and change the world!”

Our tasks:

  • Recon the Apex University network
  • Identify the systems that hosts Overlord
  • Distract the security operations center analysts to cover your attack
  • Infiltrate the system
  • Gain access to the command & control computer
  • Find the digital key
  • Exfiltrate the key
Blue Team

You and your team are lucky enough to gain experience at Apex University’s (AU) Security Operations Center (SOC). For the last semester you’ve been working three days a week learning the job roles in SOC and expanding your cybersecurity knowledge. While today is usually not a workday, the SOC director called all of you to work and explained the university network was under attack and all the full-time analysts were swamped. The director needs you to work within the network and identify any artifacts in the system indicating threat activity and indicators of compromise.

2024-02-21T16:36:09-05:00January 22, 2024|

CARE Lab 2024 Social Engineering Competition

The CARE Lab is hosting its 4th Social Engineering Competition virtually in April/May 2024!

SEC allows students to compete in a purely social engineering experience that is grounded in the social sciences. The competition offers a timely and unique platform for students to learn about social engineering in a hands-on, engaging, and ethical manner. The competition has a different theme each year to demonstrate the relevance of social engineering across various cybersecurity areas, and is open to high school, undergraduate, and graduate students.

This year’s theme, tax scams, is inspired by the IRS’ annual Dirty Dozen list of tax scams for 2023. According to IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel, scammers are “coming up with new ways all the time to try to steal information from taxpayers”. So, what exactly are these ways? Come find out how cybercriminals are using social engineering in employment and tax scams.

No technical experience is required. High school and college students (aged 14+) from all disciplinary backgrounds are welcome!

Details

Applications for the 2024 Social Engineering Competition are being accepted from NOW till Monday, February 19th, 2024 at 12pm ET

Orientation date (virtual): Saturday, March 23, time TBD (this is not optional – please hold this date on your calendar)

Competition dates (virtual, these are not optional – please hold these dates on your calendar):

Graduate Level: April 5, 6, 7, times TBD
Undergraduate: April 19, 20, 21, times TBD
High school Level: May 3, 4, 5, times TBD

Closing ceremonies (virtual): Wednesday, May 8, time TBD (this is not optional – please hold this date on your calendar)

Why a ‘pure’ social engineering competition?

There are MANY cybersecurity competitions already in existence (PicoCTF, PlaidCTF, CSAW, UCSB iCTF, US Cyber Challenge, Panoply, CPTC, CCDC, CyberPatriot, Cyber Academy, to name a few). While these are all excellent sources of hands-on training, they are primarily technical in nature and have specific focus areas, such as reverse engineering, hacking, cryptography, and exploitation. They do not emphasize the relevance of the human-socio-psychological aspects of cyberattacks and cybersecurity.

Given that the human factor is increasingly being exploited by cybercriminals, a pure SE competition grounded in the social sciences offers a timely and unique platform for students to learn about this topic in a hands-on, engaging, and ethical manner.

Who can participate?

This event is open to high school, undergraduate, and graduate students. Teams are required (solo entries are not permitted). Team sizes can range from 2-4 members. Members can be from different institutions (schools/colleges), but must be at the same educational level (ex: purely high school students).

When and how can we put our application in?

Click here to apply

*Registration deadline is Monday, February 19, 2024 at 12pm ET.

2024-01-04T09:59:15-05:00January 3, 2024|

October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month

October is #CybersecurityAwarenessMonth – with just a few clicks, you can be on your way to keeping yourself safe online.

Stay tuned throughout the month for valuable tips and best practices for staying safe in the cyber world. 🔒

learn more
2023-09-29T13:54:59-04:00September 29, 2023|

Cybercrime Investigation for Florida Law Enforcement

Cyber Florida invites state and local law enforcement personnel across the Sunshine State to attend this free, one-day workshop presenting the latest insights, methodologies, and updates related to cybercrime. Funded by a grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, this event offers an impressive lineup of experts in various domains of cyber investigations, providing a valuable knowledge-sharing platform for officers and officials keen on enhancing their investigative capabilities in an increasingly digital world.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FOR ORLANDO, OCT. 26

Program Agenda

9:00 - 10:00 am: Open Source Intelligence (OSINT)

Dr. Jordan Howell dives into the world of publicly available data and how it can be harnessed to aid in cyber investigations. Dr. Howell will discuss key tools, techniques, and resources available in the realm of OSINT.

10:15 - 11:15 am: Cybercrime Legal Update

Assistant U.S. Attorney Greg Schiller will provide attendees with the latest updates in the legal landscape surrounding cybercrime, providing a clearer picture of the challenges and opportunities facing law enforcement.

11:45 am - 12:45 pm: Current Forensics Challenges

In this session, veteran criminal investigator Chris Gastardi will address the ongoing challenges forensic experts face in digital investigations and cutting-edge techniques to overcome them.

12:45 - 1:45 pm: Networking Lunch (lunch provided, value less than $50)

1:45 - 2:45 pm: Cryptocurrency Investigations and the Blockchain

Cryptocurrencies present unique challenges in the world of cyber investigations. Larry Nielson, CFE, CTCE, CRC, Financial Crimes Detective at the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, will delve deep into the world of blockchain and shed light on techniques to trace, track, and investigate cryptocurrency-related crimes.

3:00 - 3:45 pm: Dark Web Investigations

The Dark Web remains a mystery to many. Jeff Burke, special agent with the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, will uncover the layers of the Dark Web, providing insights into how to navigate, investigate, and track criminal activities on this hidden part of the internet.

4:00 - 5:00 pm: Cyber Investigations

Retired FBI Supervisory Special Agent Chuck Esposito gives a comprehensive look into the realm of cyber investigations, discussing everything from current threats to mitigation strategies.

2023-11-06T09:50:52-05:00September 11, 2023|

HCC 2023 Cybersecurity Summer Camp

In collaboration with Florida Department of Education, the Florida Center for Cybersecurity (Cyber Florida), and the University of South Florida, Hillsborough Community College is running their first ever FREE Cybersecurity Summer Camp! This camp is being offered to all Hillsborough County High School students in grades 9th – 12th. Come join us for a summer of fun and learning!

Have fun and learn all about cybersecurity from the faculty and staff of HCC’s Computer Science Department. No previous knowledge is required, just come with a passion for learning and an interest in meeting and collaborating with like-minded peers. This camp will focus on topics such digital footprint and open-source intelligence, networking, digital forensics, and more.

Students who attend all scheduled meetings will take home their very own Raspberry Pi 4!

Learn more and register
2023-09-16T16:55:46-04:00June 13, 2023|

USF 2023 Cyber Summer Camps Open for Registration

Registration for the 2023 University of South Florida cyber summer camps is now open!

If you’re looking for a fun and educational way to keep your K-12 student occupied this summer, check out the list of USF cyber camps available for elementary, middle, and high schoolers. These camps will provide a variety of immersive, hands-on activities to help students gain cyber skills and learn about the potential of a career in cybersecurity.

view the camp catalog
2023-04-05T17:27:00-04:00February 6, 2023|

Helpful Tips to Avoid Phishing Attacks

Phishing is one of the most common types of cyberattacks that can seriously impact both individuals and organizations. These kinds of attacks can take place almost anywhere online; text, websites, and social media, but are most commonly seen in the form of email.

The SlashNext State of Phishing Report for 2022released in October, found that there was a 61% increase in the rate of phishing attacks in just the first 6 months of the year compared to last year’s data. Not only have the rates of phishing attacks increased, there was a 50% increase in attacks on mobile devices, with scams and credential theft at the top of the list of payloads.

With all of this in mind, it is perhaps more important than ever to stay vigilant against phishing attacks.

Continue reading
2023-01-09T12:02:00-05:00January 9, 2023|

Super Cyber Camp

Bradenton parents: are you looking for a fun and educational opportunity for your 2nd – 7th grader this winter break? Register now for the Super Cyber Camp on January 2-6 at the State College of Florida Bradenton. Activities include Minecraft for junior engineers, creating virtual worlds, cybersecurity, and more! Registration closes on January 1, 2023.

learn more and register
2022-12-15T10:31:27-05:00December 15, 2022|

Cybersecurity Internships for USF Students

USF students: are you looking for a hands-on cybersecurity internship opportunity that will provide valuable, real-world experience at a state government agency?

We’re proud to announce that, in partnership with Florida Digital Service, we have created several internship opportunities for USF students in cybersecurity-related programs to help you build your skills while building your professional network! These positions are onsite in Tallahassee and include a stipend in addition to hourly pay to cover living expenses.

learn more and apply
2022-11-21T07:58:41-05:00November 21, 2022|