For anyone in the DC/VA/MD area next weekend who's interested, I'm co-chairing the Maryland Cyber Challenge and Conference (MDC3) on 21-22 October 2011 in Baltimore, MD. The Cyber Challenge pits high school, college, and professional teams in a series of practical cyber wargames. After two qualifyer rounds last month, we're down to 8 teams in each division that will compete in-person for the finals. First and second place student teams receive scholarship prizes provided by the NSA ($5K/$2K), and members of the winning professional teams receive cash prizes $2K/$1K). The two-day Conference covers a wide array of topics of interest to professional & general audiences alike with special sessions designed to encourage students to pursue education & careers in the scientific and technical fields....among them, quite obviously, cybersecurity. For those curious, feel free to check out www.mdc3.org for details and the program agenda. (Yes, this is why I kept ducking out of #ir12 for morning conference calls this week) -- rick --- Richard F. Forno, Ph.D. Graduate Program Director, Cybersecurity University of Maryland Baltimore County http://www.umbc.edu/cyber Co-Chair, Maryland Cyber Challenge & Conference (MDC3)