CyberPatriot

As of the 2022-2023 school year, Chamberlain has decided to discontinue participation in the CyberPatriot competition.

Update: As of the 2023-2024 school year, Chamberlain has decided to recontinue participation in the CyberPatriot competition.

What is CyberPatriot?

Basic Information

- Established by the Air Force Association (AFA), CyberPatriot or the National Youth Cyber Defense Competition, is part of the National Youth Cyber Education Program, a program designed to inspire students from levels K-12 towards a career in cybersecurity. CyberPatriot, the nation's largest cyber defense competition, places high school and middle school students in Windows and Linux based environments, tasking these students with securing a virtual machine. All scenarios are designed to replicate real life threats, providing students with the training necessary to secure not only virtual machines, but physical hardware as well.

CyberPatriot Competition

- The CyberPatriot competition is composed of several rounds. Each of these rounds consists of several tasks, in which teams will partake in two challenges in earn points:

• Network Security Challenge
• Cisco Networking Challenge

Network Security Challenge

- The network security challenge tasks students in locating and eliminating vulnerabilities found in a variety of operation systems. Each vulnerability fixed grants the team points, placing them higher up on the leader board. Vulnerabilities can range from removing unauthorized users to uninstalling malicious software. Operating systems utilized in the CyberPatriot competition include the following:

• Windows 10
• Windows Server
• Ubuntu
• Debian

Cisco Networking Challenge

- The Cisco networking challenge on the other hand, tasks students with completing an online quiz. As well as configuring a virtual network utilizing the program Packet Tracer.

Warriors of the Net Club

- At Chamberlain's discretion, recruitment for the Warriors of the Net club will begin sometime in the month of August. A slide will be created and posted to the morning announcements.

First Meeting

- The date of the first meeting and what days we meet will be at Chamberlain's discretion. The first meeting will be primarily focused on re-chartering the club, information regarding CyberPatriot, and as per tradition, watching the Warriors of the Net video. During this meeting, we will also hold elections for the following positions:

• President
• Vice President
• Secretary
• Treasurer

- Within this club, the positions listed above truly mean nothing and are only for the purpose of re-chartering the club. Why did we dedicate a whole bullet point list for the positions then? Cause we can.

A Typical Meeting

- Meetings will typically last between 30 minutes to an hour. Depending on how long you want to stay after school or when Chamberlain gets tired of us. Within these meetings, we'll typically be doing one of the following:

• Downloading Images
• Practicing with the Demo Image
• Conducting Research on Cyber Security

- Although it may not seem like much, it is very important to attend all our club meetings. Failure to do so will result in punishment from the EtherWhip™. Thus, it is strongly suggested that you attend our club meetings.

CyberPatriot Teams

- Once Chamberlain has assessed who will be staying in the club and who is going to be exiled, teams of 4-6 students will be formed. The number of teams and students per team will depend on how many students have signed up for the club. Teams will typically be formed based on skill level. All the skilled hackers who are on the FBI's most wanted listed will be on the Dream Team. Whereas all the script kiddies and noobs will be on teams B, C, D, etc. Within these teams, it is strongly suggested that you assign a task to each member. You will have a total of 6 hours to find as many vulnerabilities as possible, with 3 operating systems to cover, a packet tracer, and online quiz. Meaning you have no time to waste. Talk to your teammates and assess their skills and weaknesses, then assign roles to them. Refer to the roles below for reference:

• Window Breaker - Is knowledgeable in a Windows environment, thus can tackle either Windows 10 or Windows Server.
• Penguin Snatcher - Is knowledgeable in the Linux environment (including the Unix Shell), thus can handle Ubuntu or Debian.
• Network Infiltrator - Is knowledgeable with routers and switches, thus can complete the online quiz and Packet Tracer.
• Jack Of All Trades - Is somewhat knowledgeable in every field, thus can easily move around and contribute to each task.

- Yes, these names are terrible and cringe, but we could care less. The point of the roles is just to give you a general idea of how you can be a contributing member to society. Keep in mind that you are a team and should help each other. It's also good to take a break after a couple hours, maybe give someone else a go at your task. Take advantage of Talk with your teammates as you are competing, as they are the only people that can help you. You may not receive assistance from Mr. Chamberlain or other teams. Unless you shout the answers out loud.

CyberPatriot Set-Up Process

- Before beginning the CyberPatriot competition, several steps must be completed. This steps include the following:

• Image Download: About a week before the competition date, the images to be utilized will be available for download. Mr. Chamberlain will receive an email regarding image download, and provide the necessary document with download links and passcodes. This document will be in the form of a Google Doc, and can be located in the MHS Cyberpatriot Google classroom. Download these images to your computer and upload them to the network drive. This can most effectively be accomplished by each student downloading a single image of a different type. It is unnecessary for all students to download a copy of the image, as it will slow down the Internet.
• Upload to Network Drive: Once you have downloaded the image, upload the folder to the network drive labeled Cisco Curriculum. Once within the drive, you will upload the zip folder to a new folder labeled Cyberpatriot XV or otherwise specified by Mr. Chamberlain.
• Competition Date: You can view the current competition schedule for the 2022 - 2023 year here. Each round occurs during a period of three days, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. We will meet on a Saturday unless otherwise specified by Mr. Chamberlain. Your team has a limited amount of time during the round, so try not to show up late or leave early.
• Location: Competitions will take place in the Chamberlain's classroom (Room 118) here at MHS. Students will typically arrive at the gate between culinary and the library at 9:00 a.m. Make sure to arrive on time so that you can be let onto campus. If you show up and no one is at the gate, make sure to contact Chamberlain or another student via any form of digital communication.
• Image Extraction: Once seated at your computer, log-on as usual, access the network drive and drag the zip folder to your desktop. Right click on the folder and extract it's contents. You will then be asked to insert a decryption key. This key can be located in the downloads document that Mr. Chamberlain previously provided to you. From there, the folder will then finish extracting, granting you access to the contents within. A window will either pop up or you will have to double click on the folder yourself.
• Image Set-up: To set-up the virtual machine, first open the VMware application on your computer. Insert rest of steps here.
• Beginning The Round Image: Once you have booted up your virtual machine, allow the machine to POST and then sign in. You will then be prompted with some text boxes, enter your team's unique identifier (ask Chamberlain for this) when asked. Congratulations, you have begun the competition. May the odds ever be in your favor. Keep in mind that this applies to all images. Meaning once you have started one image, your countdown has begun for your entire team. So try not to start until your whole team is ready. Once started, your team will have a total of 6 hours to find as many vulnerabilities and complete the networking tasks. Make sure to submit all images, the packet tracer, and online quiz before the deadline. Late submissions will cost your team points.

CyberPatriot Resources

- In addition to communicating with your teammates, there are a variety of different resources that you can utilize as you progress through the round. Below are some examples:

• Google: Google is your friend, literally. I mean other search engines are okay too. But like, Google. During the competition, you are allowed to search up anything that you believe might assist you. Whether it be a security policy checklist or a decryption site, the Internet is at your fingertips. You just need to know what you're looking for, or your efforts at searching will be ultimately useless. Below are some useful documents created by previous students:
  • CyberPatriot Checklist/Instructions
  • CyberPatriot Vulnerabilities
• Network Drive: Consider visiting the network drive for some useful resources. Yes, I know what you're thinking. The magical hard drive on my computer that has terabytes worth of pirated games, close-ups of people's faces, and man baby actually contains knowledge? The answer is yes. Go to Cisco Curriculum and open the CyberPatriot Resources 2021 folder. Or copy and paste Q:\CyberPatriot Resources 2021 into your address bar.
• Scripts: For those of you that are either highly intellectual or are really lazy, you can always resort to using scripts. When deployed properly, these scripts will go through the operating system and attempt to patch as many security vulnerabilities as possible. Scripts usually come in the form of batch files, executed with administrative permissions, and run within the Windows PowerShell environment. Keep in mind that these scripts are not guaranteed to work, thus you should not be lazy and rely on them to do the work for you. We do not have any scripts
• Demo Image: In you're new to the Cyberpatriot competition or cybersecurity in general, consider trying out the demo image. These demo images can be found within the network drive technically these should be deleted or from the Cyberpatriot website for the latest version. You can also find a variety of useful training materials and guides on the site as well.

Useful Applications

- Below is a list of essential applications that we strongly encourage you utilize during the Cyberpatriot competition. These applications are essential for resolving most if not all the vulnerabilities on the image. Many of these you may not be familiar with, no worries as there are plenty of guides online to help you. Your course through Netacad and TestOut PC Pro will also provide resources regarding usage of these applications.

• Control Panel - Can simply be accessed by typing the name in the Windows search bar.
• Computer Management - Can simply be accessed by typing the name in the Windows search bar.
• System Configuration - Can simply be accessed by typing the name in the Windows search bar.
• Event Viewer - Can simply be accessed by typing the name in the Windows search bar.
• Microsoft Management Console - To access, press Windows Key + R to open Run. Then proceed to type mmc or MMC into the bar that appears on the bottom left corner of your screen. Once the MMC window has opened, click on File > Add/Remove Snap-in and select your desired snap-in.
• Command Prompt - Can simply be accessed by typing the name in the Windows search bar.
• Windows PowerShell - Can simply be accessed by typing the name in the Windows search bar.

- Ignore the fact that the steps to access these applications was just copy + paste. Make sure to run these applications in administrative mode, so that you can utilize their full functionality.