Our History

Since its inception in 2005, the National CyberWatch Center has produced the Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition (MACCDC) – along with many academic, industry, and government partners.

The MACCDC provides hands-on application of information security skills to enhance students’ understanding of both theory and practice. The MACCDC fulfills the same role as a capstone project in a traditional cybersecurity academic program (i.e., projects that allow students to synthesize and integrate knowledge acquired through course work and other learning experiences into a project usually conducted in a workplace). Lastly, the MACCDC combines legal, ethical, forensics, and technical components while emphasizing a team approach.

The National CyberWatch Center is a consortium of higher education institutions, public and private schools, businesses, and government agencies focused on collaborative efforts to advance cybersecurity education and strengthen the national cybersecurity workforce.

2020- 2018

National Champs: Univ. of Virginia; 1st region to have 4-time (in a row) National Champs from the same region

2017

National Champs: Univ. of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) – 1 st national champ from Mid-Atlantic region

2012

Added live reporting component, started researching effects on curriculum revision; USA Today article; reached 15 paid sponsors; Speaker Symposium

2011

Started job fair; started K-12 event, 500 attendees; used event as research data source; added spectator component

2010

Started sponsor booths

2009

Virtualized qualifying round

2008

Added qualifying round; added guest speakers

2007

Expanded to 8 teams

2006

1st MACCDC: 5 teams, 31 participants

MACCDC Today

The MACCDC event has grown to more than thirty teams. Scoring is accomplished through an automated scoring system. Blue Teams are responsible for maintaining and defending various assets hosted in a virtual platform and on-premises. Teams are required to complete business injects that simulate the day-to-day operational aspect of a network or security operations center.

The MACCDC Red Team has become so popular that minimum qualifications have been established for the volunteer participants, with more than twenty-five members from a variety of companies and government agencies around the country. Having grown beyond simply being a competition, the MACCDC is now a three-day event that includes a job fair – giving team members an opportunity to interact with potential employers.