MOORPARK — The community is invited to attend a cybersecurity briefing, a career and education showcase, and to celebrate more than 160 local middle and high school students who are competing in this region’s first California Mayors Cyber Cup competition on Feb. 23, at Moorpark College, 7075 Campus Rd, Moorpark.
The community program will be from 1:30 to 3 p.m., and student awards will be given from 3 to 3:30 p.m. At 1:30, a cybersecurity briefing will be delivered by Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin, chair of the Select Committee on Cybersecurity, and there will be presentations from college officials on education and careers in cybersecurity. From 2 p.m. to 3 p.m., table-top round-robin sessions will feature businesses and educators discussing their work in IT and cybersecurity as well as career opportunities. The event is free and open to the public. To register, visit https://cmcc-moorpark.eventbrite.com.
The California Mayors Cyber Cup is a statewide cybersecurity contest for middle and high school students. The student teams compete from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The competition engages students on a real-life cybersecurity threat scenario in which they use technical skills, leading cyber practices and good cyber-hygiene habits.
“This is a learning opportunity for students and the community,” said Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin. “The California Mayors Cyber Cup competitions foster the next generation of cybersecurity professionals by bringing together students with leaders in business, industry and government. This also educates the community on security issues and challenges.”
Moorpark College was named as one of 12 regional sites to host the California Mayors Cyber Cup. Simultaneous regional competitions around the state create one virtual statewide event. There are currently 267 teams registered to compete representing more than 1,400 students. At least 18 teams are new to the competition. These students come from 160+ cities across the state – all in an effort to bring cybersecurity awareness to communities and to fuel the workforce pipeline in cybersecurity.
“We are proud to host this year’s CMCC regional competition,” shared Moorpark College president, Luis Sanchez. “This is a great opportunity for local high school students to learn about the outstanding cybersecurity and technology programs Moorpark College offers as well as the promising careers available in this growing field.”
Local sponsors include California State University, Channel Islands, and Moorpark College.
The day concludes with a presentation at 3 p.m. to competitors and Assemblymember Irwin presenting the region’s Mayors Cyber Cup. “The winning team from each of the regional competitions will take home a trophy that will remain on display in their local city hall throughout the year as a physical representation of all the hard work that goes into learning how to combat cyber attacks,” Irwin said.
The California Mayors Cyber Cup is coordinated by California Cyberhub, an initiative of synED, a Thousand Oaks nonprofit collaboration of public and private education, local and state government and businesses, including the California Community Colleges, California State Universities, GO-Biz, California Department of Technology and Cal-CSIC.
For more information on the California Mayors Cyber Cup, visit the California Cyberhub website at http://ca-cyberhub.org