National Cybersecurity Student Association COVID-19 Perceptions Survey Webcast Join us on Oct. 7th from 2-3 pm EDT as Blake Urbach, National CyberWatch Center External Evaluator, discusses the results of the National Cybersecurity Student Association COVID-19 Perceptions Survey. Register for the webcast HERE.

The Importance of Community and Connectedness in Cybersecurity Webcast Join Mary Beth Klinger and her colleagues from the College of Southern Maryland on Oct. 21st from 2-3 pm EDT as they discuss their Best Submission: Runner Up selection in this year's Innovations in Cybersecurity Education program, "The Importance of Community and Connectedness in Cybersecurity." The project is designed to coalesce government, industry, and academia into a sustainable regional effort to address and strengthen cybersecurity workforce needs throughout Southern Maryland. The focus of this National Science Foundation (NSF)- supported project is to recruit, retain, and graduate students who are presently underrepresented within the cybersecurity profession and to do so in a climate of connectedness and inclusivity. Register for the webcast HERE.

Creation of a Cybersecurity Ambassador Program and Using it to Promote Cybersecurity Skills During the Pandemic Webcast Join Lori Sussman from the University of Southern Maine on Oct. 28th from 2-3 pm EDT as she discusses her Best Submission selection from the 2021 Innovations in Cybersecurity Education program, "Creation of a Cybersecurity Ambassador Program and Using it to Promote Cybersecurity Skills During the Pandemic." The Cybersecurity Ambassador Program (CAP) provides graduate and undergraduate students opportunities to use the cybersecurity knowledge, skills, and abilities acquired at the university to raise awareness in the community. Register for the webcast HERE.

2021 Innovations in Cybersecurity Education Publication Released With the forced transition to online learning across the education spectrum as a result of COVID-19, the National CyberWatch Center decided to focus on the following theme for this year’s program: How can we best contribute to the needs and transformations that might occur for remote/online instruction in the post-COVID-19 world? Given the theme's narrow focus, we treated this publication as a Special Issue, which combines the top two submissions (as ranked by a panel of judges) with the results of our National Cybersecurity Student Association COVID-19 Perceptions Survey. Download the publication HERE.

Diversifying Cybersecurity Workforce Group on LinkedIn  The Cybersecurity Skills Journal invites you to join the conversation with our national network of employers, educators, practitioners, policy developers, and researchers who seek to broaden participation in the cybersecurity workforce. Join the group HERE.

Cybersecurity Awareness Month Join National CyberWatch Center and become a Cybersecurity Awareness Month Champion! Cybersecurity Awareness Month was launched by the National Cyber Security Alliance & the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in October 2004. Observed every October, it was created as a collaborative effort between government and industry to ensure every American has the resources they need to stay safer and more secure online. Be a part - see how HERE.

Implementation Plan for the NICE Strategic Plan The NICE Community Coordinating Council released the Implementation Plan for the NICE Strategic Plan. The Strategic Plan, released November 2020, outlines NICE's mission, vision, goals, and objectives. The Implementation Plan expands on this by identifying strategies for each objective. Over the last several months, the NICE Community Coordinating Council Working Groups and NICE program office staff have met to prepare strategies, tactics, and success measures for implementing the Strategic Plan. View the Implementation Plan HERE.

NICE K12 Conference Stipend Opportunity For Educators Calling all teachers interested in cybersecurity: The 2021 VIRTUAL NICE K12 Cybersecurity Education Conference is excited to provide a limited number of conference registration stipends to eligible educators. Educators will be selected from completed applications based on criteria for a no-cost conference registration fee ($125 value). We are particularly interested in helping educators who have no financial support for conference attendance. Applicants must be currently teaching full-time in a secondary public, private, or charter school.

Educators should have a passion for introducing cybersecurity topics into their classroom or teaching cybersecurity courses. Stipend recipients may attend the conference either on the conference dates or view the recording on their own schedule. Application Deadline: Oct. 25,2021. Notification Status: Winners will be notified via email on Oct. 26, 2021. Conference dates: Dec. 6-7, 2021 with recordings available from 2 weeks post-event until July 2022. Apply HERE.

Rider University Well Represented at Women in CyberSecurity Conference Rider University was well represented in Denver, Colorado a few weeks ago at the 2021 Women in CyberSecurity (WiCyS) Conference. In addition to being an academic sponsor at the conference, Rider was proud to send graduate student Ana Kolovani, juniors Lilli Kolovani and Marissa Neef, and the online master’s in cybersecurity program director Dr. Elizabeth Hawthorne. While Ana Kolovani was one of only 22 students to present her individual research at the conference, she was also awarded a scholarship to attend the event. Continue reading HERE.

Purdue Global University's Research Study: Playing Capture the Flag Purdue Global University's School of Business and Information Technology is hosting a Capture the Flag competition that is open to the public, starting on Oct. 15, 2021 at 5pm ET, for 72 hours, ending on Oct. 18th, 2021 at 5pm ET. The competition will be for single players and will be a jeopardy style CTF event. Most challenges are at the beginner level; however, several intermediate and advanced challenges will be included. The security challenges will cover a variety of cybersecurity categories including general topics, networking, cryptography, software, etc.

The competition will also be part of a research study. Players must consent to the research study and answer a few demographic questions prior to competing. After answering the questions, players will be exposed to the URL for the CTF system and a site password. Once players log into the system, they can register and play the game. The URL for the consent form and survey questions is HERE. For questions, please contact Dr. Rhonda Chicone at rchicone@purdueglobal.edu.

September 1 - December 31, 2021 National Cybersecurity Student Association | Hack the Box Competition October 2021 Cybersecurity Awareness Month October 4-6 Virtual Colloquium on Information Systems Security Education (CISSE) October 7 National CyberWatch Center Webcast | National Cybersecurity Student Association COVID-19 Perceptions Survey, 2-3pm ET October 21 National CyberWatch Center Webcast | The Importance of Community and Connectedness in Cybersecurity Webcast, 2-3pm ET October 28 National CyberWatch Center Webcast | Creation of a Cybersecurity Ambassador Program and Using it to Promote Cybersecurity Skills During the Pandemic, 2-3pm ET March 17-19, 2022 Women in CyberSecurity (WiCyS) Conference June 6-8, 2022 NICE Conference & Expo Have an event you would like us to promote? Email information to info@nationalcyberwatch.org.

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