ACC to Host Cyberspace Security Competition to Detect Vulnerabilities

Austin, TX. — Power up your laptops and prepare to do battle. This is what elite network security personnel do every day: they fight a cyberspace war. Network security administrators are trained to protect and keep sensitive and confidential information from the threat of hackers, viruses, and scams.

The Linux Top Gun Competition sponsored by Austin Community College and Famous Aspect, Inc., a computer software consulting firm will be held on Friday, Sept. 6, at 10 p.m. at Mojo’s Daily Grind 2714 Guadalupe. Network security officers will showcase their skills by maneuvering through obscure and difficult security tasks, attempt to penetrate firewalls and decipher passwords to introduce three new 20-hour network security certificates being offered by ACC this fall.

In the wake of Sept 11, we have learned that the Internet is a source of both great strength and considerable vulnerability. Richard Clark, the president’s computer security advisor, believes top security professionals have an obligation to find these vulnerabilities. “Millions of households are getting connected and therefore getting vulnerable to online crime,” Clark says. “It’s a bit like selling a car today without a seat belt.”

The three new network security certificates being offered this fall include Linux Server Security, Microsoft Security Server, and Network Server Security.

“The Internet and our critical infrastructure are constantly under attack from viruses and other invasive programs, ” says Jerry Haba, director of ACC’s High Technology Institute. “The airways are constantly being bombarded with threats and reports of potential terrorist activities, which has created a plethora of job opportunities in network security. This is why we are responding by offering three relevant practical, hands-on certificate programs in Network Security.”

The competition will give teams an opportunity to take turns defending a Linux/Apache Web server while “intruders” use their laptops to attack the server over the Internet. After each round, the players will explain their strategies to the audience, just like a sports play-by-play announcer.

“Twenty years ago, if I told someone I taught computer networking, they’d give me a blank stare,” says Paco Nathan, senior advisor in the Austin office of Famous Aspect, Inc. “Six years ago people started saying, ‘Oh, Internet and dot.com’s huh?’ Nowadays, they just ask me to make their laptop e-mail private.”

Austin-based computer network and security experts North Shore Circuit Design and Symbiot Security will provide judges.

Teams are currently being organized, and prizes will be awarded to the team that can best defend a Web server under attack. Admission is free and open to the public.
For more information about the event and details about registering to compete, see www.linuxtopgun.org. For more information about courses offered through ACC’s High Technology Institute, visit www.austincc.edu/ce/hti.html.

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