The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) is seeking information on support services for the President’s Cup Cybersecurity Competition (PCCC) – a competition to reward top cybersecurity professionals in the Federal government. The competition gets underway next week and wraps up in December.
Through a request for information (RFI), CISA is looking to address certain areas, including whether interested parties have:
- Experience developing or hosting online competitions;
- Experience developing cyber training material for hands-on training, simulation, or exercises;
- Experience with having cybersecurity and/or employees with cybersecurity knowledge;
- Video game development experience;
- Experience hosting livestreamed events;
- Video editing capabilities;
- Familiarity with the Microsoft Azure cloud environment;
- A willingness to have content developed as part of a government contract become open source;
- Familiarity with and ability to use pre-developed open-source frameworks and tools;
- Experience working with a short turnaround development cycle;
- An ability to provide 24/7 support for participants during registration and competition; and
- Providing a list of North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) and/or other Product Service Codes supported.
“Those who choose to participate in the competition will be tested in a range of challenges from across the NICE Cybersecurity Workforce Framework, including cyber defense, cyber exploitation, forensics, and more,” the RFI says. “Participants are challenged through solo and/or team competitions to prove individuals or teams are the best cybersecurity professionals in the Federal government.”
The PCCC was first announced in July 2020 by former CISA Director Chris Krebs, following a May 2019 executive order that called for an annual interagency effort to reward cyber excellence.
“The Federal cybersecurity workforce is a strategic asset that protects our citizens, homeland, and the American way of life,” Krebs said at the time. “CISA is proud and excited to lead the second annual President’s Cup Cybersecurity Competition to measure the knowledge, skills, and abilities of the diverse cybersecurity talent within government.”
Registration for the 2021 competition opens on August 30. The competition runs through several rounds, and is scheduled to conclude in early December.
