This collaboration is focused on a critical national imperative: identifying, nurturing and empowering the next generation of experts to eliminate the cybersecurity skills gap in the U.S.
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. (PRWEB) March 10, 2021
Students on campuses across the country are being given more cyber opportunities thanks to the partnership between Women in CyberSecurity (WiCyS), the National Cyber Scholarship Foundation (NCSF), and SANS Institute. With funding from the NCSF, they are giving 250 CyberStart Game licenses to each of the 114 WiCyS student chapters to distribute to students on each campus.
The CyberStart Game was created by experts at the SANS Institute, allowing students to test their cybersecurity skills. It is a gamified learning platform comprised of over 200 interactive challenges that teach students about cryptography, web exploitation, social engineering, steganography, XSS, SQL injection, python and more.
Not only does CyberStart help students hone in on their cybersecurity talent, but it also prepares them for the free Cyber FastTrack (a Capture-the-Flag contest), which is scheduled April 5 to 7. This scholarship competition is a chance for students to win several $1,000 scholarships and up to $21,000 in certified professional cybersecurity training. This aims to break down financial and time barriers for students trying to gain the cybersecurity skills and certificates employers are looking for.
“The National Cyber Scholarship Foundation values our relationship with WiCyS and looks forward to expanding the partnership in the future. This collaboration is focused on a critical national imperative: identifying, nurturing and empowering the next generation of experts to eliminate the cybersecurity skills gap in the U.S.,” said David Brown, executive director of the National Cyber Scholarship Foundation.
All male, female and non-binary college students in the U.S. are encouraged to reach out to their local WiCyS student chapter to obtain their free CyberStart license. To learn more, visit https://www.wicys.org/benefits/student-cybersecurity-opportunities-through-cyberstart-and-cyber-fasttrack/.
The deadline to register for Cyber FastTrack is March 31. For more information on the CyberStart Games, visit http://cyberstart.io/Go. For more information on the program or to register, visit http://cyberstart.io/cyberfasttrack.
About WiCyS:
Women in CyberSecurity (WiCyS) is the 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with international reach dedicated to bringing together women in cybersecurity. WiCyS offers opportunities and resources for its members and collaboration benefits for its sponsors and partners. Strategic partners include Tier 1: Amazon Web Services, Bloomberg, Cisco, Facebook, Lockheed Martin, Optum, Microsoft, Carnegie Mellon University - Software Engineering Institute. Tier 2: Workday, Google, Nike, SentinelOne. Tier 3: Target, SpearTip, Flatiron Health, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, SANS Institute, SAP, IBM, Fortinet, Starbucks, HERE Technologies, Home Depot, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Palo Alto Networks, Verizon, University of California-San Diego. To partner, visit https://www.wicys.org/support/strategic-partnerships/.
About National Cyber Scholarship:
The National Cyber Scholarship Foundation exists to identify, nurture and empower the next generation of cybersecurity experts. The program aims to support the entry of thousands of talented students to the cybersecurity industry by providing development opportunities, world-class training, and scholarships to fund degree-level study. Our overall goal is to rapidly eliminate the cybersecurity skills gap in the United States by providing support for students with an innate talent for cybersecurity to study the discipline at the highest level. For additional information, visit https://www.nationalcyberscholarship.org/.