Enhancing Network Security through Competitive Cyber Exercises

The security of our information systems is constantly under attack. We propose that to make them safer, we should attack them even more. Setting up a competition where two or more sides try to defend their network against an adversarial team will provide an outlet for new and emerging defensive technologies and techniques. This competition will provide an environment where new defensive tactics can be deployed against real hackers. Two similar events that have been publicized recently are the DEFCON "capture the flag" competition and the military Cyber Defense Exercise. The two competitions follow different paradigms. The DEFCON event set all teams to be both attackers and defenders, while the Cyber Defense Exercise focuses the teams on defensive operations only.

The Cyber Defense Exercise (CDX), an annual competition between students at the five U.S. Service Academies, has developed into an extraordinary exercise where defensive technologies are implemented and tested. During the four years that this exercise has been conducted, the skill and the knowledge levels of the participants has improved so dramatically over the past three years that the CDX has become an excellent testing ground for new and emerging concepts in information assurance.