ARLINGTON, Va., March 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- AFA's flagship STEM program crowned the champions of its fourteenth national youth cyber defense competition, ending a season that began with 5,254 teams spread out around the world.

The CyberPatriot XIV National Finals Competition, presented by the Northrop Grumman Foundation and held March 18-20, pitted 24 teams competing in-person at the Bethesda North Marriot Hotel & Conference Center in Rockville, Md., and four teams competing virtually from their home locations in a multi-day event.

The CyberPatriot National Youth Cyber Defense Competition, challenges teams of high school and middle school students to secure networks against cyber-attacks in a series of online competition rounds leading up to the finals. Teams are given virtual operating systems and configurations and tasked with finding and fixing cybersecurity vulnerabilities while maintaining critical services.

At the National Finals event, teams gathered for an opening ceremony and participated in the TCP/IP (the Career Portal/Industry Perspectives) career exploration event. They then competed in the Northrop Grumman Foundation Network Security Master Challenge, the Cisco NetAcad Challenge, and an AT&T Competition component. Winners were announced during the Awards Banquet on Sunday, March 20.

Team CyberAegis Flashpoint from Del Norte High School won the National Championship in the Open Division, the Terabyte Falcons from Scripps Ranch High School Air Force JROTC won the National Championship in the All Service Division, and team CyberAegis Cobra from Design 39 Campus won the National Championship in the Middle School Division.

"This was the first hybrid National Finals in the program's history and was a great way to end a tremendous season," said Rachel Zimmerman, CyberPatriot's Senior Director of Business Operations. "Congratulations to our new national champions, our eight new Cyber All-Americans, and all who competed at this year's finals. We extend our deepest gratitude to the Northrop Grumman Foundation and our other generous benefactors for continuing to invest in our nation's future by building the cyber skills pipeline."

The full list of winning teams for CyberPatriot XIV can be found here: Congratulations to the CyberPatriot XIV National Champions! (uscyberpatriot.org)

"We continue to see the need for a diverse and talented cyber workforce across the United States and the world. -CyberPatriot has provided students from diverse backgrounds a venue for engaging in hands-on STEM activities that allow them to master new skills and abilities," said Sandra Evers-Manly, president of the Northrop Grumman Foundation and vice president of global corporate responsibility, Northrop Grumman. "Our CyberPatriots work hard to protect and defend networks while displaying teamwork, values, trust and leadership skills necessary to be successful in this competition."

Cyber Diamond Sponsor Cisco awarded a total of $51,000 to the Open and All Service Cisco NetAcad Challenge winners of CyberPatriot XIV. This is the third year that Cisco has awarded scholarships to the Cisco NetAcad Challenge bringing the total scholarships awarded to over $150,000.

Cyber Silver Sponsor Gannon University also offered scholarships to Gannon University to the top three teams in the Open & All Service Divisions.

Notably, CyberPatriot awarded Cyber All-American awards to eight students this year in recognition of their extraordinary achievement of reaching the National Finals Competition in each of their four high school years. Recipients were:

• Emily Foreman from U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps Sacramento Division
• Kevin Hu from Del Norte High School
• Emily Kelso from U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps Sacramento Division
• Darius Kianersi from Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Tristan Lee from Army JROTC from Roosevelt High School
• Darin Mao from Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
• Tanay Shah from Del Norte High School
• William Smith from U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps Sacramento Division

CyberPatriot, the nation's largest youth cyber education program, is AFA's flagship STEM program dedicated to strengthening cyber skills among American youth. In addition to the National Youth Cyber Defense Competition for high school and middle school students, the program features AFA CyberCamps, an Elementary School Cyber Education Initiative and Literature Series, a Tech Caregiver certification and community service opportunity, and CyberGenerations—a program aimed at equipping senior citizens with the skills needed to stay protected from cyber threats.

Supporters of CyberPatriot include the Northrop Grumman Foundation, CyberPatriot's Presenting Sponsor, as well as Cyber Diamond sponsors Boeing, Cisco, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and Microsoft; Cyber Gold sponsors Air Force Reserve, AT&T, BNY Mellon, Facebook, Symantec, and the USAA Foundation; and Cyber Silver sponsors Air Force STEM, American Military University, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Gannon University, Leidos, Mastercard, and University of Maryland Global Campus.

About AFA
An independent non-profit association, AFA is the single-largest professional military association dedicated to air and space power and to the advancement of aerospace education at every level. Founded in 1946, AFA is dedicated to promoting dominant U.S. Air and Space Forces as the foundation of a strong National Defense; honoring and supporting Airmen, Guardians, and their Families; and remembering and respecting the enduring heritage of the Air and Space Forces.

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SOURCE Air Force Association