Competitive games can drive innovation, improve performance, and showcase skills in a structured environment. To provide such opportunities, global IT and cyber security association ISACA and The Center for Infrastructure Assurance and Security (CIAS) will host new CSX Cyber Challenge competitions at ISACA’s upcomingCSX conferences around the world.
The CSX Cyber Challenge will be held at all of ISACA’s CSX2016 conferences. The first of these new global competitions will be held at ISACA’s CSX North America, in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, 17-19 October 2016. ISACA debuted the CSX conference last year to a sold-out audience and expanded to two more locations this year:
- CSX Europe, London, England, UK, 31 October-2 November 2016
- CSX Asia, Singapore, 14-16 November 2016
The CSX Cyber Challenge is an opportunity for beginner- or intermediate-level competitors to practice both offensive and defensive skills, and improve their performance. The target environments are made up of a variety of operating systems and applications—giving participants a wide range of opportunities to exercise existing skills or learn new ones. These competitions provide a place to test out new tools, scripts, techniques, and exploits in a controlled, low-risk environment.
The games provide an opportunity for employers to verify participants’ skills and benefit from the tools and tactics they acquire and bring back to their enterprises.
“IT and cybersecurity competitions go beyond traditional educational platforms and encourage professional development and cyber security training outside the classroom,” said Christos K. Dimitriadis, Ph.D., CISA, CISM, CRISC, chair of ISACA’s Board of Directors and group director of Information Security for INTRALOT. “By offering the CSX Cyber Challenge at our CSX conferences, we are tapping into creative methods by which professionals and students are learning and developing skills today. And, healthy competition is fun, while it forces collaboration among peers or teammates.”
The CSX Cyber Challenge is a network assessment and network defense competition, in which individuals compete for control of common resources and their critical services. Teams accumulate points for controlling and operating critical services such as SMTP, DNS, HTTP, HTTPS, SSH. Geared to all skill levels, the CSX Cyber Challenge offers morning and afternoon sessions, limited to 50 competitors. Conference attendees can sign up to play during the conference registration process.
CSX 2016 conferences are part of ISACA’s Cybersecurity Nexus (CSX) and provide practical cybersecurity solutions and guidance, tailored to every level of a security professional’s career. The conferences allow attendees to explore trends and threats, exchange ideas and insights, and learn how to excel at defending against threats and protecting their enterprises.