The Impact of the National Cyber League NCL on Students Skills in Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity is the top priority for most businesses and government agencies. Teaching students practical cybersecurity is one of the challenges for most academic institutions. Some institutions focus on theory and neglect the practical, which is more appealing to students. Besides, it equips students with the skills the industry needs and reduces the gap between academic institutions and the industry. National Cyber League NCL provides a platform where all students nationwide can join and practice. In the fall of 2023, West Virginia University cybersecurity students joined the NCL competition as part of the course requirements. Participating in team and individual competitions was considered a substitute for the project for the course, which consists of 30% of the total grade. In this paper, we evaluated their background and skills before entering the competition (Who they are?), their experience in the competition, their achievements and skills after completing the competition (what they learned?), and how they evaluate their experience (what they think?). In this paper, we measure their involvement with the competition and how the competition assists them in developing their skills. We rely on their opinion and compare that with their performance according to the report card produced by NCL for every team and each individual. We also found that most students were involved between 10 to 30 hours during the semester with the games. Few students were more than 30 hours during the semester involved with NCL. We found that students were reasonably engaged in the competitions in different areas. Students spent more time in the gymnasium and practice games than in actual competitions. Students achieved an average completion of 35% with 73% average accuracy in the gymnasium, average completion was 19%, and the average accuracy was 76% in the practice game, average completion was 29%, and the average accuracy was 60% in the individual games, and 38% average completion and 39% average accuracy in the team games. Most students believed their skill level had improved by at least one or more. The majority of students were satisfied with their learning experience at NCL.