Capture the Flag at MCRCon Cybersecurity Conference

The Capture the Flag challenges will include: forensics and incident response, data manipulation, software vulnerabilities, and social engineering. For users who have competed in a capture the flag exercise before, several new challenges in data manipulation, forensics discovery and software vulnerability detection have been added. The CTF real-time scoring system will track the flags and display a leader board of scores, so participants can gauge their progress through the event. 

"We are continually updating our CTF exercise to provide new challenges for our users," said William "Joe" Adams, vice president of research and cyber security at Merit Network. "The addition of forensics and incident response is a new avenue for us and we think that it will provide another exciting aspect to the exercise." 

Participants can use their own laptop or one of the limited number of computers provided. Those who wish to use their laptop will need to download and install VMWare Horizon prior to participating in the CTF competition. 

In addition to the Capture the Flag challenge, MCRCon on May 20th will feature three prominent speakers from industry to discuss the Internet of Things and other cybersecurity issues:

• Greg Conti, Director, U.S. Army Cyber Research Center and Associate Professor of Computer Science, United States Military Academy at West Point, New York. 
• Chris Roberts, Founder, CISO and CTO, One World Labs. 
• J Wolfgang Goerlich, Vice President of Consulting Services, VioPoint Inc. 

MCRCon will be held from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, May 20, at the Ann Arbor Marriott Ypsilanti at Eagle Crest, which is located at 1275 S Huron Street in Ypsilanti. The CTF competition will run from noon to 7 p.m. 

Admission is $75. Register online at: www.merit.edu/mcrcon/ 

For more details about MCRCon, please visit: www.merit.edu/mcrcon/

About Michigan Cyber Range

The Michigan Cyber Range prepares cybersecurity professionals to detect, prevent and mitigate cyberattacks in a real-world setting. Like a test track or a firing range, the Michigan Cyber Range enables individuals and organizations to conduct "live fire" exercises: simulations that test the detection and reaction skills of participants in a variety of situations. The Michigan Cyber Range also offers certification courses for a number of cybersecurity disciplines, with instruction available on-site and live online. A full training schedule may be found at the Merit Michigan Cyber Range web site: www.merit.edu/cyberrange/ 

The Michigan Cyber Range is hosted and facilitated by Merit Network in partnership with the State of Michigan and with the sponsorship of Consumers Energy and DTE Energy.

About Merit Network

Merit Network, Inc. is a nonprofit corporation owned and governed by Michigan’s public universities. Merit owns and operates America’s longest-running regional research and education network. In 1966, Michigan’s public universities created Merit as a shared resource to help meet their common need for networking assistance. Since its formation, Merit Network has remained on the forefront of research and education networking expertise and services. Merit provides high-performance networking and IT solutions to Michigan’s public universities, colleges, K-12 organizations, libraries, state government, healthcare, and other non-profit organizations. 

For more information: www.merit.edu/