The United States democratic elections were attacked by hackers? No, but the fictitious country of Hackastan was! On April 11-12th, Johns Hopkins University held a mock national democratic election. Teams of collegiate cyber-defenders worked tediously to protect the data integrity, network, and infrastructure of the voting system against expert computer hackers. The 2013 National CyberWatch Center Mid-Atlantic Regional Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition (CCDC) included a symposium on electronic voting, a job fair for college students, and a high school expo.

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[image title=”iFormBuilder team.” alt=”Cyber Defense Competition”]http://www.iformbuilder.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/IMG_2487.jpg[/image]
[image title=”Man using Socket Scanner.” alt=”Cyber Defense Competition”]http://www.iformbuilder.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/IMG_2449.jpg[/image]
[image title=”Live results using Klipfolio” alt=”Cyber Defense Competition”]http://www.iformbuilder.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/IMG_2445.jpg[/image]
[image title=”Voters using iForm Kiosk.” alt=”Cyber Defense Competition”]http://www.iformbuilder.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/IMG_2489.jpg[/image]
[image title=”Competing students.” alt=”Cyber Defense Competition”]http://www.iformbuilder.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/IMG_2434.jpg[/image]
[image title=”Voting stations.” alt=”Cyber Defense Competition”]http://www.iformbuilder.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/IMG_2401.jpg[/image][/fancy_images]

The iFormBuilder team provided eight voting kiosks, one for each district of Hackastan. The iPads, running iForm Kiosk, allowed participants to vote in the mock election. Using Socket Scanners, participants scanned their Voter ID Card and were able to vote on the future Hackastanian President, flag, animal, and their local congressional representative. iForm Kiosk collected the data and we teamed with Klipfolio to provide live election results.

The energy level was high as students applied classroom theory and skills to defend against real-time cyberattacks. “The CCDC really shows these students what it’s like to protect a network from a coordinated, malicious cyberattack,” said Casey O’Brien, director of the National CyberWatch Center at Prince George’s Community College (MD). “It’s a phenomenal educational experience that’s also teaching them what it’s like out there in the cybersecurity world.”

Eight teams of college students competed for the mid-Atlantic regional title during competition: Anne Arundel Community College (MD), Capitol College (MD), Craven Community College (NC), Millersville University (PA), North Carolina State University, Radford University (VA), University of Maryland at College Park, and University of Maryland University College. Congratulations go to the winners, Millersville University, who will move on to the National CCDC on April 19-21 in San Antonio.

For information on CCDC and the National CyberWatch Center, visit http://www.maccdc.org/.

View the full press release here!