The Virtual Cybersecurity Career Challenge is for college level students seeking real-world experience in cybersecurity. Over a ten week span, students work in teams of five to create a business, setup virtual machines, develop business processes, and secure their network.o The project culminates with a team presentation on their experiences and lessons learned to an audience of cybersecurity professionals.

The challenge is facilitated by cybersecurity instructors. Teams meet weekly with the instructors for guidance and support. Students must meet regularly with their team members and plan to spend 160 hours on the challenge. 

Schedule (March through May)

• Week 1 - Workshop begins: Introduction to program work roles
• Week 2 - Introduction to the network requirements & team selection
• Week 3 - Network admin basics, Kanban, Gantt charts, Visio diagrams
• Weeks 4 to 8 - Teams work independently and receive guidance on network management and pentest preparation.
• Week 9 - Pentest
• Week 10 - Team presentations

Student Eligibility

• Completed an introduction to networking class.
• Completed a cybersecurity class.
• Have an instructor sponsor.
• Attended an information session.
• Formed a team.

Student Activities

• Develop a project plan for an Information System for a fictitious business.
• Utilize project management tools for communication and project implementation.
• Operate a network of nine devices within specific technical requirements.
• Defend the network against a penetration test. 
• Deploy penetration testing to analyze the network for evidence of attacks or compromise.

Student endorsements

“The ability to communicate cross-team demonstrated our adaptability to succeed, despite being pressed for time to complete the objective.” Cybersecurity Career Challenge Student

“I enjoyed the team aspect the most and the ability to discover more about my skills as they appeared with more contrast in this environment.” Cybersecurity Career Challenge Student

Associate Professor
Senior Personnel, NCyTE Center
vnestler@csusb.edu