The Pennsylvania State University Wins Third Annual Deloitte Foundation Cyber Threat Competition

NEW YORK, Nov. 21, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- A team of students from The Pennsylvania State University presented the best analysis and incident response approach to a simulated cyberattack in order to claim victory at the third annual Deloitte Foundation Cyber Threat Competition. George Beatty, Kevin Houk, Michael Lubas, and Michael Morelli, the school's team members, each received $2,000 in scholarship money. The teams from University of Southern California and Rensselaer Polytechnic University placed second and third, respectively.

The Deloitte Foundation Cyber Threat Competition is designed and facilitated by Deloitte Advisory cyber risk services in order to help college students develop the skills needed to address increasingly sophisticated cyber risks in the marketplace.

"Organizations are facing significant challenges keeping pace with the rapidly evolving threat landscape and securing the talent needed to properly resource cybersecurity functions," said Anthony Russo, principal with Deloitte Advisory, cyber risk services practice, Deloitte & Touche LLP. "Beyond security table-stakes, today's cybersecurity professional needs to understand both the technology risks and the business risks organizations face from cyberattacks in order to effectively protect the most vital business assets from insider and outsider threats."

This year's competition also featured a separate session for educators from the attending schools in Deloitte's Greenhouse™ Lab. The labs are cutting-edge physical spaces located around the world designed to help participants tackle their complex problems. They apply a tested set of principles that combine behavioral science, analytics, technology, and facilitation to break through traditional methods of problem-solving. In the Greenhouse™ Lab, educators participated in a full-day of dynamic engagement and collaborative brainstorming exercises designed to equip educators with the tools they need to prepare the talent of tomorrow to meet the cyber-related needs of employers.

"The Deloitte Foundation recognizes the need to both close the cybersecurity skills gap in the workforce and to expand the bench of potential cybersecurity talent," said Tonie Leatherberry, president, Deloitte Foundation. "We are encouraged that our Cyber Threat Competition is attracting high-performing students with a strong foundation of the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) skills needed to develop a talented and deep pool of cybersecurity professionals."

About The Deloitte Foundation
The Deloitte Foundation, founded in 1928, is a not-for-profit organization that supports education in the US through a variety of initiatives that help develop the talent of the future 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, benefitting middle/high school students, undergraduates, graduate students and educators. For more information, please visit the Deloitte Foundation website at www.deloitte.com/us/df.

About Deloitte Cyber Risk Services
As part of the market-leading Advisory practice, Deloitte's cyber risk services help complex organizations more confidently leverage advanced technologies to achieve their strategic growth, innovation and performance objectives through proactive management of the associated cyber risks. With deep experience across a broad range of industries, Deloitte's more than 2,500 cyber risk services practitioners provide advisory and implementation services, spanning executive and technical functions, to help transform legacy IT security programs into proactive, secure, vigilant and resilient cyber risk programs. Deloitte Advisory cyber risk services works with our clients worldwide to better align cybersecurity investments with strategic business priorities, establish improved threat awareness and visibility, and strengthen the ability of organizations to thrive in the face of cyber incidents.

As used in this document, "Deloitte" means Deloitte LLP and its subsidiaries. Please see www.deloitte.com/us/about for a detailed description of the legal structure of Deloitte LLP and its subsidiaries. Certain services may not be available to attest clients under the rules and regulations of public accounting.                                      

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SOURCE Deloitte Foundation

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