Presentations, Practice Images, and Getting Ready for Round One!

Cyberpatriot Presentations

In early September, students gained knowledge about the world of Cyberpatriot and resourceful techniques for competition season. President, Nick Douty, and Vice President, Valeria Ramirez, kicked off the first meetings of September by introducing Cyberpatriot. The club curriculum presented the basics of cybersecurity, online safety, and security protocols for Windows and Linux. As Valeria and Nick share information and tips, members jot down notes that may be helpful when working on practice images and during competition day. Members are heavily encouraged to keep a notebook with CLI commands, security protocols, and additional information found in the Encrypted Classroom as these notes can be used in competitions.

Practice Images

Cyberpatriot practice images provide students with practice in authentic image versions, preparing them for competition season. Meetings on September 21 and September 28 had over 35 students in attendance. Members were informed of the date of the first round and given permission slips on the 21st. The first round is October 21st and new guidelines for competition have been acted, as Mr. Smith shared round are now only 4 hours long. Mr. Smith shared that not all students would be placed into teams, but those who are must have a signed permission slip. He also advised all students to revise their notes in order to have information on hand during competitions. After these announcements, students were eager to work on the images! Files were unzipped, extracted, and opened in VM Ware. Students worked on a Windows image and tried hard to gain points. Previous members helped new members navigate the image and discover how to gain the most points. Notes from presentations contained important protocols such as, how to disable guest accounts, what password policies to place, and which programs to uninstall, that would aid members.

During our September 28th meeting, an image that had not been seen before was released. Students were very eager to work on this image. Mr. Smith announced that teams would be formed at the end of the meeting and announced next week. He also shared that over fall break, from October 9-14, teams could connect and practice for competition via Discord. He encouraged students to practice and update their notes if they had not already. Students then began to work on their images. Many students chose to play it safe and practice with the Windows Image, while others looked for a challenge with the Linux image. However once opened, we found that the Windows image was seen last week, while the Ubuntu image was truly new. Students were still excited to work together on the images, though it was seen last week. Points were gained quickly by those working on the Windows image, while students completing the Linux image had to work a bit harder. Final points varied, but all students gained new knowledge and experience with images during this meeting