Governor Kemp announces Georgia’s Participation in CyberStart America

On Friday, February 18, 2022, Governor Brian P. Kemp announced Georgia’s participation in CyberStart America, an innovative, online cybersecurity talent search and competition sponsored by the National Cyber Scholarship Foundation (NCSF) and the SANS Institute. The competition is open to all high school students to explore their aptitude for cybersecurity and computer science, with participants able to win scholarships and prizes and recognition for their schools. A partnership between the University of North Georgia, the Georgia Cyber Center at Augusta University, Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI), and the Georgia Department of Education created “CyberStart America in Georgia” to promote CyberStart within the state and provide $100,000 in cash prizes to Georgia students, teachers, and schools.  The CyberStart America program is a series of online challenges that allow students to act as cyber protection agents, solving cybersecurity-related puzzles and exploring related topics such as code breaking, programming, networking, and digital forensics. Participating students and their teachers do not need prior knowledge or experience in information technology or cybersecurity to take part. The program is free for participants, and all Georgia students in grades 9-12 are invited.  Students who do well in the program can earn access to scholarships and advanced training. Last year 32,000 students from 4,800 schools around the country participated, including 400 Georgia students, and NCSF awarded over $4 million in scholarships and advanced training, with 15 Georgians taking home top honors and scholarships.  This year, the CyberStart America in Georgia partners teamed up to raise $100,000 from the private sector to fund district, school, and student incentives for the game. The district level prizes were determined based on total student registrations as of December 31, 2021.