Previous President's Cup Coverage

President’s Cup 5 (2024): 

The Fifth Annual President’s Cup ran from January 2024 to April 2024 and featured an exciting theme centered around some of our most beloved video games from our childhoods. Over 300 teams competed, along with more than 1,400 individual track competitors with everyone showing off their best cyber moves and stretching their skills further than that three-handled controller cord ever reached. The competition also saw an increase of seven new participating departments and agencies with participants from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Department of Transportation, Department of Defense, U.S. Army, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy, and the U.S. Marine Corps. The 2024 President’s Cup concluded with an exciting four-day Finals event, which took place at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) facilities in Arlington, VA from April 15 – 18, 2024 and was more intense than any rainbow road. The Finals were comprised of the top 10 competitors from Round 2 of each Individuals competition (Track A and Track B) and the top five teams from Round 2. The Teams Finals were split into two days, with the first day introducing the new ICScape Room. This interactive escape room experience immersed participants in a fictional storyline where teams navigated through an intense scenario, completing various hands-on tasks such as finding hidden PLC equipment and locating and installing a Ladder Logic and HMI display, to secure the scene and save the day. “The Justice League” from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), emerged as the sole team to successfully navigate the escape room challenge. Finally, on the second day of the Teams Finals, challengers were presented with a unique cyber video game that was made specifically for this competition. The champions were recognized at an awards ceremony held on May 20, 2024, at the White House.  

Learn more about the finals and the winners of the 2024 President’s Cup here.

President’s Cup 4 (2022): 

The fourth annual President’s Cup ran from August 2022 to December 2022. Nearly 240 teams competed, along with more than 1,100 individual track competitors. The competition also saw an increase of six new participating departments and agencies. Participants included the Small Business Administration, Department of Education, Department of Labor, General Services Administration, Department of Housing and Urban Development, Environmental Protection Agency, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Department of Treasury, Department of Veterans Affairs, and United States Postal Service. The 2022 President’s Cup also saw the first non-DoD participant place in the history of the competition, with an individual from the FBI finishing in third place in the Individuals Track A competition. The Finals were held in person for the first time in two years, at CISA’s Arlington facilities. During the second day of the Teams Finals, the challenges were presented with a unique cyber video game that was made specifically for this competition. This video game will be available in 2023 for all federal employees to play on the President’s Cup archive site. The champions were recognized at an awards ceremony held on May 15, 2023, at the White House. 

  • Read about the private ceremony to honor the winners here.

President’s Cup 3 (2021):  

The third annual President’s Cup ran from August 2021 to December 2021. The Teams Competition consisted of challenges drawn from the following eight in-demand NICE Framework work roles: Cyber Defense Incident Responder; Cyber Defense Forensics Analyst; Cyber Defense Infrastructure Support Specialist; Cyber Defense Analyst; Exploitation Analyst; Vulnerability Analyst; Software Developer; and Threat/Warning Analyst. There were two tracks available within the Individuals Competition. Individuals could participate in one or both tracks based on their interest.  There were nearly 2,000 federal employees competing in the 2021 President’s Cup Competition, with over 900 of those taking part in the Individuals tracks. The number of teams has increased each year of the competition, with 308 teams total in 2021. The Departments of Defense, Homeland Security and Justice brought the largest number of competitors, with total representation from at least 15 federal government agencies. The cumulative score over the two days determined the winning team. The second day of the Teams Competition was broadcast live and the video is available below.    

President's Cup 2 (2020):  

The second annual President's Cup Cybersecurity Competition ran from August 2020 to February 2021. The competition was split into a Teams track and two Individuals tracks, one focused on incident response and forensic analysis, and the other focused on vulnerability exploitation analysis. Over 1,400 participants and nearly 250 teams competed in the 2020 competition. Held virtually, the Finals featured the top 10 competitors from each Individuals track and the top five teams. In the Finals, the teams competed in two rounds held on separate days. During the first day of Finals, teams were matched against a variety of challenges in a Capture the Flag format. On the second day, teams faced a "Save the World" scenario in a virtual environment built just for this year's competition. The cumulative score over the two days determined the winning team. The second day of the Teams Competition was broadcast live and the video is available below.    

Inaugural President's Cup (2019): 

The first annual President’s Cup Cybersecurity Competition ran from September to December 13, 2019, and drew more than 1,000 individuals and 200 teams. After two Qualifying rounds, 10 individual finalists and five team finalists came to the Washington, D.C. area for the final round at the CISA Cybersecurity Lab.    

The five teams were given a series of challenges to solve on the first day, followed by a virtual escape room on the second day, with the winner determined by a combined score from the two days.  The winning team consisted of Major Josh Rykowski, U.S. Army Cyber Command; Chief Warrant Officer Phillip Smith, U.S. Army 781st Military Intelligence Brigade; Chief Warrant Officer Benjamin Koontz, U.S. Army, Defense Information Systems Agency; Sergeant First Class Zachary McElroy, U.S. Army Cyber Protection Brigade; and Staff Sergeant Matthew Cundari, U.S. Army Cyber Protection Brigade.   

Individuals were given ten challenges to solve over an eight-hour period, testing different technical and security skills.  Sears Schulz, a cadet at the U.S. Air Force Academy, finished first in the Individuals Competition, solving four challenges.  Cadet Schulz is a senior at the Academy and hopes to attend graduate school to study cybersecurity.