Start here
Operate
Take ownership of unfamiliar systems, understand the business mission and keep essential services available.
Pacific Rim Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition
Defend the Pacific Rim.
Student blue teams inherit a live enterprise under pressure. Keep the business moving, meet the mission, and defend it from a professional Red Team.
Competition
Mar 26–27, 2027
Job fair + awards
Mar 28 · Lacey, WA
The Pacific Rim region / WA · OR · ID
U.S. Census Bureau boundaries · 2024
01 The exercise loop
A working business. An active adversary.
Collegiate teams manage a realistic organization while a professional Red Team applies pressure. Technical skill matters. So do judgment, teamwork and communication.
Under pressure
Defend
Find weaknesses, harden the environment and respond as a professional Red Team tests the edges of the network.
As a team
Coordinate
Prioritize risk, divide the work and adapt together when the situation changes faster than any one person can follow.
Make it clear
Communicate
Document the response and explain technical decisions in language that business leaders and judges can act on.
Inside the competition / An illustrative story
The business can’t stop.
Neither can your team.
You inherit a company’s network. Customers still need its website. Staff still need their files. Then an unusual burst of sign-in attempts appears—and a new business request arrives.
Who investigates? Who keeps services running? Who explains the decision? That balance of technical work, teamwork, and communication is the point.
Fictional example for this design proof. Not the announced 2027 scenario or live competition data.
2027 field note
Three days in Lacey.
Registration details for 2027 have not been published on the official event website. Detailed schedules await organizer confirmation. Official event announcement ↗
26
Friday
March
March
Competition · Day 01
27
Saturday
March
March
Competition · Day 02
28
Sunday
March
March
Job fair + awards
13
Schools met the challenge in the 2026 regional field
Recent proof / 2026
From regional winner to national podium.
Western Washington University won the 2026 Pacific Rim competition, then carried that performance forward to finish third at the national championship.
Read the 2026 results ↗Explore competition history →
Regional field13 schools
PRCCDC winnerWestern Washington
National finishThird place
02 Pathways in
Your place on the range.
The competition is built by a regional community—students, educators, cybersecurity professionals and industry partners.
CompetePrepare a team from your college or university. Registration details for 2027 await organizer confirmation.
VolunteerContribute to judging, infrastructure, or event operations. Volunteer sign-up details are not yet available here.
SponsorSupport hands-on cybersecurity education and connect with emerging talent. Current sponsorship details await confirmation.
Competition community
Sponsor recognition + host venue
Sponsors displayed on the PRCCDC website. Recognition and participation levels will be updated as the next event’s arrangements are confirmed. Sponsorship information →
Sponsor
Sponsor
Host venue