Deloitte Foundation Holds Seventh Annual Cyber Threat Competition

Over 5,100 undergraduate and graduate student participants involved since 2014

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Mar 01, 2021, 10:05 ET

NEW YORK, March 1, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The seventh annual Deloitte Foundation Cyber Threat Competition has concluded, awarding scholarships to 12 students, who participated in multi-school teams during the event. The first place team in the 2021 competition included four students who were respectively from: Brigham Young University; Binghamton University, State University of New York; Texas A&M University; and, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Sponsored by the Deloitte Foundation and executed by Deloitte Risk & Financial Advisory, the Cyber Threat Competition engages college and university students in both the business and technology aspects of cyber risk to help build the next generation of diverse talent. Since its inception in 2014, the competition has had over 5,100 undergraduate and graduate student participants.

"As pandemic-driven digital transformations at most organizations have created exponentially bigger attack surfaces, the dearth of cyber talent needed to solve for these pivots only becomes more alarming," said Deborah Golden, Deloitte Risk & Financial Advisory cyber and strategic risk leader and principal, Deloitte & Touche LLP. "We need thousands of professionals to join the industry and bring their diversity of thought and background with them. The Deloitte Foundation Cyber Threat Competition is one way we work to help students prepare for and remain passionate about their future cyber careers — by rewarding their grit, ingenuity and collaboration in cyber problem-solving."

Anthony Russo, Deloitte Risk & Financial Advisory principal for cyber and strategic risk, Deloitte & Touche LLP, continued, "Our student participants applied their skills to the same types of real-world cyber challenges our clients may face every day. We are consistently impressed with the great promise and skills that each of our participants show each year."

Kim Griffin-Hunter, Deloitte Risk & Financial Advisory partner, Deloitte & Touche LLP, and Deloitte Foundation board member added, "The Deloitte Foundation supports experiential learning initiatives across the business spectrum. Through the Deloitte Foundation Cyber Threat Competition, we offer students a preview of the working world through an interactive approach to learning that challenges them to apply the skills they have studied in the classroom to a cyber issue."

The competition consists of two-rounds. The first-round tests students' breadth of business and technical understanding of cyber through an online questionnaire and cyber challenges. This year, for the first time, the top scoring students competed virtually in the second-round Cyber Incident Response Simulation, which culminated in team presentations to a "mock executive team" of leaders from Deloitte Risk & Financial Advisory's cyber practice.

About Deloitte Foundation
The Deloitte Foundation, founded in 1928, is a not-for-profit organization that supports education in the United States through a variety of initiatives that help develop the next generation of diverse business leaders, and their influencers, and promote excellence in teaching, research and curriculum innovation. The Foundation sponsors an array of national programs relevant to a variety of professional services, benefiting high school students, undergraduates, graduate students and educators. Learn more about the Deloitte Foundation.

About Deloitte
Deloitte provides industry-leading audit, consulting, tax and advisory services to many of the world's most admired brands, including nearly 90% of the Fortune 500® and more than 7,000 private companies. Our people come together for the greater good and work across the industry sectors that drive and shape today's marketplace — delivering measurable and lasting results that help reinforce public trust in our capital markets, inspire clients to see challenges as opportunities to transform and thrive, and help lead the way toward a stronger economy and a healthier society. Deloitte is proud to be part of the largest global professional services network serving our clients in the markets that are most important to them. Now celebrating 175 years of service, our network of member firms spans more than 150 countries and territories. Learn how Deloitte's more than 330,000 people worldwide connect for impact at www.deloitte.com.

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SOURCE Deloitte