Government’s Top Cybersecurity Competition Announces Winners

GAME OVER!!! The Fifth Annual?President’s Cup Cybersecurity Competition concluded last week with the exciting four-day Finals event, which took place at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) facilities in Arlington, VA from April 15 – 18, 2024.?The finalists fiercely competed for the title of best cybersecurity professionals in the federal government and ultimate bragging rights.

The Finals were comprised of the top 10 competitors from Round 2 of each Individuals competition (Track A and Track B ) and the top five teams from Round 2 . During the Finals, the Individuals finalists were given four hours to complete as many challenges as they could in a format similar to the qualifying rounds. The Teams Finals were split into two days, with the first day introducing an ICScape Room along with cybersecurity challenges and the second day putting the teams in a cyber video game.

The competition began with the Individuals Track A Finals – which focused on defensive work roles and tasks from the NICE Framework . CISA’s Executive Assistant Director for Cybersecurity, Eric Goldstein, kicked off the competition by honoring the competitors’ service and welcoming them to CISA facilities.

“The President’s Cup and its challenges are designed to stretch competitors’ abilities and test their aptitudes through a fun, unique competition setting,” said Eric Goldstein. “The competitors have the opportunity to use their skills to outthink and outwit their competitors while providing an opportunity to identify, recognize and reward the best cyber talent in the federal workforce. It is exciting to see how far President’s Cup has come since its inception in 2019 and I look forward to seeing it further advance in the years to come.”

The winner of Track A was U.S. Army Major Nolan Miles, who also participated in the Teams Finals on ENOENTHUSIASM. Second place in Track A went to U.S. Marine Corps Staff Sergeant Michael Torres, and in third place was U.S. Air Force 1st Lieutenant Sears Schulz.

The Individuals Track B Finals followed on Tuesday, April 16, with a focus on offensive work roles. U.S. Marine Corps Staff Sergeant Michael Torres claimed the Track B win with a perfect score and made history as the first individual to win the President’s Cup more than once having won Individuals Track A in President’s Cup 3. With the Individuals Track B win and placing second in Track A, SSgt Torres had one of the more remarkable performances in President’s Cup history! Placing second in Track B was U.S. Army Captain Brian Welch, who also participated in the Teams Finals on ENOENTHUSIASM. Coming in third place was Mr. Jakob Kreuze of the U.S. Air Force, who won Track B back in President’s Cup 3.

CISA’s Associate Director of Vulnerability Management, Sandy Radesky, spoke with competitors before the Track B Finals began. “CISA is proud to host this unique competition that demonstrates the vast and diverse talents of the individuals that not only protect our country but inspire the future generation of our cyber workforce,” Radesky stated. “Having served in both civilian and Department of Defense roles, I recognize that the successful completion of the various challenges requires the different skills and responsibility gained from a range of cyber work roles. The unity that has been seen throughout the competition makes it evident that we are in fact, all part of one team and most successful when we work together.”

The President’s Cup 5 Teams Finals began on Wednesday, April 17 and took place over two days. On Day 1 of the Teams Finals , competitors participated in an Industrial Control System escape room (ICScape Room) developed by Idaho National Labs (INL). Teams had to band together to take on tasks that incorporated learning objectives from INL’s ICS Cybersecurity courses. The ICScape Room followed a fictional storyline, where disgruntled employees of Acme International Inc caused havoc while protesting a hostile takeover by Crapi Plastics, Inc. Teams made their way through this chaos to accomplish tasks, like finding hidden PLC equipment and locating and installing a Ladder Logic and HMI display, to secure the scene and save the day. Teams earned points based on how quickly they completed the various tasks and escaped the exercise. During the competition, only the “The Justice League” from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) managed to escape.

During the second day of the Teams Finals, the challengers were presented with a unique cyber video game that was made specifically for this competition. The video game put the competitors in a fictional storyline that featured space exploration and defending humanity from an alien threat. This video game showcases another way CISA is innovating when it comes to cyber challenges and competitions.

CISA Executive Director Brandon Wales and Principal Cyber Advisor for the Army Dr. Michael Sulmeyer attended Day 2 of the Teams Finals to congratulate and thank the finalists for participating in this year’s competition.

“It’s incredible to see the mix of people that have participated over the years and their continued commitment to both advancing their skills and our common mission,” said Brandon Wales. “I hope to see all competitors continue to rise to the occasion and new organizations join as all participation in the competition has a positive impact for both the community and the competitors personally.”

“I love when I see cyber competitions that are not only compelling and motivating, but also help showcase the different skills related to the myriad of cyber work roles out there. It is important to realize that not all jobs in cyber are the same and we must rely more on building a specialized workforce if we want to fill the cyber workforce gap,” stated Michael Sulmeyer. “I challenge all competitors to realize the comparative advantage that their unique skills bring to the competition as well as to their success in a cyber career. I also hope that the competitors use the competition as an opportunity to get to know other cyber professionals and use their newfound relationships to further secure our homeland.”

The Teams Finals were determined by the combined scored over Day 1 and Day 2. The winning team was “Artificially Intelligent” whose team included members of the U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force. This team proved successful in defending their title as four members were also on the winning team from President’s Cup 4. The second-place team, touch grass.txt, was comprised of members of the Department of Defense, and the third-place team, Cyber Warfare Extremists, consisted entirely of members from the U.S. Navy.

CISA was honored to host the 36 competitors that participated in the President’s Cup 5 Finals. Participants came from across the federal government including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Department of Transportation, Department of Defense, U.S. Army, U.S. Airforce, U.S. Navy, and the U.S. Marine Corps. President’s Cup 5 kicked off in January 2024 and included more than 1400 individuals and over 300 teams with diverse backgrounds and experiences.

Interested in seeing what the challenges were like? This and previous years’ President’s Cup challenges are available to play for free on the Practice Area where federal employees and uniformed service members can test and hone their cybersecurity skills. ?For those wanting to get a better understanding of the way the competition works this is the perfect opportunity to see what the excitement is all about. Individuals can also visit the?President’s Cup GitHub page ?(available to anyone) to find the source code, challenge descriptions, and walkthrough guides from the previous competition challenges.

Congratulations again to this year’s finalists and thank you to everyone who participated in President’s Cup 5. Stay tuned to see what’s next for the competition on the President’s Cup website .