The National Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition (CCDC) will be held in San Antonio, Texas, April 17 - 19. Regional competitions are already underway.

In the midwest, Alexandria Technical College, MN, Baker College, MI, DePaul University, IL, Indiana Tech, IN, Inver Hills Community College, MN, Rhodes State College, OH will each send their state-competition winning team to the intensive regional competition, cohosted by The Center for Systems Security and Information Assurance (CSSIA) partners, Inver Hills Community College, MN, and Moraine Valley Community College, IL. The event will be held at Inver Hills Community College in Inver Grove Heights, MN.

The teams must defend an operational computer network against attacks waged by the "red team," comprised of industry professionals from Secureworks, Inc. Elisa Cruz, chief information security officer for the Department of Homeland Security, will be speaking at the event.

The winning team will be invited to participate in the National Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition (CCDC) in April in San Antonio.

CCDC is a three day event that specifically focuses on the operational aspect of managing and protecting an existing "commercial" network infrastructure. CCDC provides an opportunity for students and industry professionals to interact and discuss many of the security and operational challenges the students will soon face as they enter the job market.

Sponsors/supporters of the event include Core Security Technologies, Sourcefire, Cisco, The Center for Strategic IT & Security, General Mills, ACT, Secureworks, University of Illinois, Structured Technologies, Savid Technologies, Grant Thornton International, State Farm Insurance, Illinois Institute of Technology, Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency, SAVVIS, Lockheed Martin, and the Federal Bureau of Investigations.

Last year, the team from Baker College, MI, won the national competition.