One of the many reasons to partake in a cybersecurity competition is to learn and grow a skill set. Threats and vulnerabilities change daily, so the more education the better. In fact, at SANS, we constantly are challenging our instructors to prove their knowledge is up to date. The minute they aren't the authority on a given topic, they no longer are invited to teach. But perhaps one of the most important reasons to engage in competitions is to quell your inner hacker. It's not much fun to have a skill set and not use it, and often, finding avenues to use it in a productive and legal way can be a challenge in itself.
One of the many reasons to partake in a cybersecurity competition is to learn and grow a skill set. Threats and vulnerabilities change daily, so the more education the better. In fact, at SANS, we constantly are challenging our instructors to prove their knowledge is up to date. The minute they aren't the authority on a given topic, they no longer are invited to teach. But perhaps one of the most important reasons to engage in competitions is to quell your inner hacker. It's not much fun to have a skill set and not use it, and often, finding avenues to use it in a productive and legal way can be a challenge in itself.
There are a number of interesting competitions going on at the moment, some of which I hope you readers might find interesting. Additionally, for those of you who work in the public or private sector and are looking for qualified cybersecurity professionals, this could be a good place to find one.
Forensic Challenge 4 - VoIP, the next Honeynet Project Forensic Challenge, is one of several challenges currently underway. According to its website, the challenge "takes you into the world of voice communications on the Internet." VoIP is with SIP apparently becoming the de facto standard for Internet voice communications. Of course, anything that becomes popular online starts to experience malicious attacks. This challenge is designed to examine and explore the SIP and RTP protocols.
Another digital forensics competition focuses on advanced threats such as the Advanced Persistent Threat and organized crime. The contest was created by Jonathan Ham and Sherri Davidoff and is based partially on how the APT might try to trigger a compromise to steal intellectual property with a targeted attack like spear phishing.
The last challenge I'll point to is the DC3 Digital Forensics Challenge, part of the US Cyber Challenge. The challenge is open to individuals and teams of any age. There are 25 different challenges ranging from basic forensics to advanced tool development. There are over 500 teams competing.
Adam Ross is managing editor at the SANS Institute and wrote, edited, and Web produced for The Washington Post's opinions and politics sections, online and in print. You can reach him at aross@nextgov.com