LR Venture Center begins registration for JOLT Cyber Challenge in October

The Little Rock Venture Center has begun registration for its annual JOLT Cyber Challenge, a Jeopardy-styled, hands-on training competition that teaches participants about cyber security and technology development.

The job training competition will be held at the Walton School of Business at 119 Main Street in downtown Little Rock during Techtober, Arkansas’ annual season of tech celebration that runs from Oct. 11-13. Last year’s event drew over 100 competitors and gamemasters, and organizers said they hope to exceed that total with this year’s competition.

A maximum of 40 teams may register by the Sept. 27 deadline. All the registered participants will a receive a free JOLT t-shirt for the “capture the flag” cyber competition run by cyber game master experts. Teams of four compete in challenges grouped by category, with higher difficulty levels earning higher point values. Participants aren’t required to be coders, but should be tech-savvy, organizers said.

“We are pleased to host our sixth JOLT Cyber Competition, serving to develop a booming technological workforce right here in Arkansas,” said Venture Center Executive Director Wayne Miller. “The teams participating in JOLT will leave the event better prepared to navigate real-world vulnerabilities through challenges designed by cyber security experts. We’re grateful for the opportunity to strengthen our tech community through JOLT.”

“JOLT is primarily a community event,” said Christopher Wright, CEO of Citadel Systems and Lead Gamemaster. “Students get to meet industry professionals and those professionals get to work with their peers from other companies. The variety of puzzles forces participants to stretch their critical thinking skills. Teams will leave with greater ability to work together and solve complex problems.”

Competitors in this year’s contest will vie for prizes while developing high-level tech skills in several areas, including remote access exploits, web vulnerabilities, code breaking, physical security, privilege escalation, reverse engineering, and code manipulation. Corporate team registration is $500, independent teams are $300, and student teams are $225. Individual registrants will be placed with a team at the event. To learn more, click here.