The Best and the Brightest: 6 Years of Supporting the President’s Cup Cybersecurity Competition

May 13, 2025 • Podcast

By
Jarrett Booz, John DiRicco, and Matthew J. Butkovic

The SEI team that supported the Presidents Cup Cybersecurity Competition details their challenges, successes, and lessons learned.

Publisher

Software Engineering Institute

DOI (Digital Object Identifier)

10.58012/zsp5-xj90

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Abstract

A strong cyber defense is vital to public- and private-sector activities in the United States. In 2019, in response to an executive order to strengthen America’s cybersecurity workforce, the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) partnered with the SEI to develop and run the President’s Cup Cybersecurity Competition, a national cyber competition that identifies and rewards the best cybersecurity talent in the federal workforce. In six years, more than 8,000 people have taken part in the President’s Cup. In this podcast from the Carnegie Mellon University Software Engineering Institute (SEI), Jarrett Booz, technical lead for the President’s Cup, and John DiRicco, a training specialist in the SEI’s CERT Division, sit down with Matthew Butkovic, the CERT technical director of cyber risk and resilience, to reflect on six years of hosting the cup, including challenges, lessons learned, the path forward, and publicly available resources.

About the Speaker

Jarrett Booz

Jarrett Booz is a cybersecurity engineer in the CERT Division's Cyber Mission Readiness Directorate at the Carnegie Mellon University Software Engineering Institute, where he has worked since 2018. His work focuses on building secure cloud infrastructure; running large-scale cybersecurity competitions, including the President’s Cup Cybersecurity Competition; and developing interactive …

John DiRicco

John DiRicco has been a member of the Cyber Mission Readiness (formerly Cyber Workforce Development) Team in the CERT Division of Carnegie Mellon University's Software Engineering Institute since 2010. As a cybersecurity training support specialist, DiRicco oversees component tasks in support of training products and educational technology, including instructional support, …

Matthew J. Butkovic

Matthew Butkovic is the Technical Director of the Cyber Risk and Resilience Assurance Directorate in the CERT Division of the Carnegie Mellon University Software Engineering Institute (CMU SEI).

Matt performs critical infrastructure protection research and develops methods, tools, and techniques for evaluating capabilities and managing risk. This includes addressing the …