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Congratulations to the University of Central Florida team – the 2024 National Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition (NCCDC) Champions! To learn more or register for the next season, visit NationalCCDC.org.

The mission of the Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition (CCDC) system is to provide institutions with an information assurance or computer security curriculum a controlled, competitive environment to assess their student’s depth of understanding and operational competency in managing the challenges inherent in protecting a corporate network infrastructure and business information systems.

Started by the CIAS in 2005

In an effort to help the development of a regular, national level cyber security exercise, the Center for Infrastructure Assurance and Security at the University of Texas at San Antonio agreed to host the first Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition (CCDC) for the Southwestern region in April of 2005.

Protect Real-World Networks

The CCDC is unique because it focuses on the operational aspect of managing and protecting an existing network infrastructure. Other exercises examine the abilities of a group of students to design, configure, and protect a network over the course of an entire semester; however, this competition is focused on the more operational task of assuming administrative and protective duties for an existing “commercial” network.

For Full-Time Students

CCDC is comprised of teams from any interested two- or four-year college or university and each consists of up to 8 students with no more than 2 graduate students on any team. Each competitor must be a full-time student. Only one team per institution is permitted each season.

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Player stats

A Rapidly Growing Event

Schools

Year

Participants

5

2005

40
44

2007

352
63

2009

504
109

2011

1308
161

2013

1920
201

2015

2412
220

2017

2640
241

2019

2880

First place teams

Recent winners

Full winner information is available on the official NCCDC site.

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FAQ

Get to know the competition

Teams are 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.

Competitors are given an operational network they must secure, operate and defend.

Teams are limited in their external hardware, software and Internet access to ensure a level playing field.

It varies by competition season (see player stats above). There is no minimum or maximum number of schools or participants that can compete.

A team consists of up to 8 students with no more than 2 graduate students on any team. Each competitor must be a full-time student.

The NCCDC is a multi-day competition with 8 or more hours of competition time each day.

Teams designate a Team Captain for the duration of the competition to act as liaison between the competition staff and the teams before and during the competition.

Teams must be sponsored by a coach in a department faculty or staffed position at the competing university.

Only one team per institution is permitted each CCDC season.