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President's Cup Cybersecurity Competition

President's Cup Cybersecurity Competition

Congratulations to the winners of the 2022 President’s Cup and everyone who participated in the finals! Stay tuned for future announcements on the next competition.

Cyber threats across the globe have put into focus our country’s need for cyber talent. CISA leads and hosts the President’s Cup to identify, recognize, and reward the best cyber talent across the federal workforce. 

Participants were challenged to outthink and outwit their competitors in a series of tests that took them through deep space. While the competition had a fictional storyline, the challenges were based on real-world situations to expand cyber skills through fun and creative tests. 

Want to see what it’s like to participate in the President’s Cup? Federal employees can visit the President’s Cup Archive Site to take on challenges from previous competitions as well as completed rounds from 2022. Everyone can visit the President’s Cup GitHub page to find source code, challenge descriptions and walkthrough guides for the challenges. 

Congratulations to the 2022 President’s Cup winners who are listed below. Check out the final scoreboard by visiting the President’s Cup leaderboards for Teams, Individuals Track A and Individuals Track B.

Track A Winner BLUE_SKY National Security Agency NSA
Track B Winner UHNOMOLI U.S. Army
Team Winner MANDATORY TRAINING 780th Military Intelligence Brigade

 

President's Cup Trophy and Eagle

Registration

Registration is now closed! Stay tuned for information on future competitions. 

Register Now

Learn more about President’s Cup

Highlights from the Fourth Annual President's Cup Cybersecurity Competition

2022 #PresCup Challenge Walkthroughs and Live Screen Capture Video Highlights

President's Cup Challenge Walkthrough "Final Goal - Mars Saved": Teams Finals Day 2

What Is the President’s Cup Cybersecurity Competition?

President’s Cup Cybersecurity Competition: How to Play

Overview of President's Cup

What is President's Cup?

Established in 2019, by E.O. 13870, “Executive Order on America’s Cybersecurity Workforce”, the President’s Cup Cybersecurity Competition is a national cyber event aiming to train and recognize cybersecurity professionals in the federal workforce. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) leads and hosts the President’s Cup as part of their mission to expand the size and capabilities of the U.S. cyber workforce. 

Participants are tested in a range of challenges following the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE) Cybersecurity Workforce Framework, including cyber defense, cyber exploitation, forensics, and more. The NICE framework is the foundation for increasing the size and capability of the U.S. cyber workforce. It provides a common definition of cybersecurity, a comprehensive list of cybersecurity tasks, and the knowledge, skills, and abilities required to perform those tasks.

How can I participate in President's Cup?

Participation in the President’s Cup is limited to employees of the United States Federal Government . This includes federal employees and uniformed services personnel from federal civilian agencies, as well as Department of Defense active duty military personnel, civilians and those serving in a drilling reserve capacity in the Armed Forces Reserves or National Guard. Government contractors are not permitted to participate. 

Participants can compete as an individual, on a team of up to five members, or both as an individual and a member of a team. Teams can be made from individuals from one or more Departments or Agencies. 

Participants must register using a “.gov/.mil” email address.

The Competition

Tracks: President’s Cup has two tracks and participants can choose to compete in one or both.

  • Individuals: enroll as an individual and compete in one or both of two tracks: offensive and defensive.  
  • Teams: enroll in groups of two to five from across the government and take on tasks drawn from eight in-demand work roles.

Rounds: President’s Cup has three rounds between August and December. The first two will take place virtually and participants only need internet access and a web browser to compete. The finals will be held in person at CISA’s Arlington, Va., facility as conditions allow.  

  • Round 1: Open to the entire federal workforce 
  • Round 2: Individuals – Top 100 scores from each track | Teams – Top 20% of scores from Round 1
  • Finals: The top 10 individuals from each track and top 5 teams from round 2 

Session Timer: In the first two rounds, participants have eight days to start their timers and complete as many challenges as possible. The timer starts when the first challenge is launched and cannot be paused. The timer has limited time to compete for the tracks.

  • Individuals: Four hours 
  • Teams: Eight hours
Work Roles

 The 2022 President’s Cup challenges are mapped to Tasks and Work Roles from the NICE Framework and categories listed in Executive Order 13870. These Work Roles are listed below.

Individual Competition:

2022 President’s Cup Individual Competition. There are two tracks available within the Individuals competition. Individuals can choose to participate in one or both tracks based on their interest. Primary Track A Cyber Defense Incident Responder and Cyber Defense Forensics Analyst. Secondary Track A Network Operations Specialist and Cyber Defense Analyst. Secondary Track A Network Operations Specialist and Cyber Defense Analyst. Primary Track B Exploitation Analyst and Cyber Operator. Secondary Track B Research and Development Specialist and Vulnerability Assessment Analyst.

Teams Competition:

2022 President's Cup Teams Competition. The 2022 President's Cup Team Competition will consist of tasks drawn from the following eight in-demand NICE Framework roles: Cyber Defense Incident Responder, Cyber Defense Forensics Analyst, Network Operations Specialist, Cyber Defense Analyst, Exploitation Analyst, Vulnerability Assessment Analyst, Data Analyst, and Threat/Warning Analyst.

President's Cup Resources

President's Cup FAQs

Here you will find some commonly asked questions and answers to help you with the President’s Cup. 

President's Cup Supporting Materials

If you are participating in the competition, review these supporting materials and resources to help prepare for the President’s Cup.

Previous President's Cup Coverage

View information about previous President's Cup Competitions including highlight videos, challenges and winner lists.

President's Cup: Hone Your Cyber Skills

Beyond the competition, previous President’s Cup challenges are available here at no-cost for those interested in testing and honing their cyber skills.

Contact

For general information, contact us at: PresidentsCup@cisa.dhs.gov.

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