Projects
CNF = Community in Focus
CNF cares about our community and that’s why we’re dedicated to giving back. From scholarships and internships to outreach programs and community events, we’re committed to cultivating the next generation of cyber leaders. See how CNF gives our heart, time, and talent for a better future.
Scholarships & Internships
In 2015, CNF Technologies partnered with The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) to establish the CNF Cybersecurity Scholarship and competitive internship opportunity. Three years later, in 2018, the partners teamed up with National Security Collaboration Center (NSCC) to advance research, education, and workforce development in the cyber forefront. To date, $150,000 has been awarded to scholarship recipients and many interns have gained real-world, hands-on cyber experience at multiple CNF San Antonio locations.
In order to fulfill both industry and academia needs, CNF collaborated with UTSA and NSCC to help advance students’ knowledge and skillset to better prepare them for immediate technical careers upon graduation.
Despite San Antonio’s myriad of higher education institutions, the demand for qualified cybersecurity candidates exceeds the city’s current supply. Oftentimes, candidates do not possess either the appropriate security clearance, years of experience, or certifications necessary to gain employment.
The CNF Cybersecurity Scholarship and internship opportunity helps alleviate these obstacles by facilitating students with the practical experience they need in order to become familiar and confident with the day-to-day aspects of cybersecurity. In addition, qualified interns supporting customer operations are granted a coveted sponsorship to a federal security clearance further preparing them for a career in the defense industry.
The CNF Cybersecurity Scholarship successfully creates a direct bridge from our company to new and untapped talent and is a vital resource for UTSA students looking to gain full-time employment. Many of CNF’s top performers are UTSA alumni.
UTSA’s Cybersecurity program is ranked #1 across the nation and supports over 3,500 graduate and undergraduate students pursuing science and engineering degrees. The renowned program contributes to San Antonio’s growing reputation as being a “hub for all things cyber.”
Cyber Patriots
After a twenty-five year career in public school education, Roxanne Ramirez knows how to encourage lifelong learners: spark their curiosity at a young age. In 2018, she began developing a new community project aimed at encouraging young cyber students. Because of her efforts, CNF is now an active community presence that regularly contributes to the cyber education and mentorship of local youth participating in the CyberPatriot program. This program arms students with the technical knowledge and skills to compete in the National Youth Cyber Defense Competition.
Through CyberPatriot, CNF has advanced the cyber learning outcomes of numerous high school students. As a direct result, many of these students have been inspired to further their education in cybersecurity or science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields.
Created by the Air Force Association with the goal of inspiring K-12 students toward careers in cyber defense, CyberPatriot tasks teams with assessing and repairing cybersecurity vulnerabilities as well as maintaining critical applications. At competitions, students are placed in roles similar to Information Technology professionals and must successfully manage a small simulated network while competing against other schools. National recognition along with scholarship money is up for grabs as teams make it through a series of online competition rounds. Cyber camps, literature series, and other educational materials are additional components of CyberPatriot that students enjoy.
Hackathon
CNF is a proud sponsor of RowdyHacks, a 24-hour hackathon located at The University of Texas San Antonio that challenges students to build apps, games, and other neat projects within the allotted time frame.
CNF also sponsors multiple cyber capture-the-flag style events throughout San Antonio that encourage students to think critically and problem solve in a team-oriented environment. At RowdyHacks, teams of up to four are tasked with developing a cyber project through to completion. If necessary, mentors are on staff to help participants maneuver through difficult technical stages. RowdyHacks is open to any college or university student over 18 years old. All academic backgrounds and programming styles are welcome to compete.
Because of CNF’s sponsorship, there is no cost for students to participate in RowdyHacks. Food, t-shirts, snacks, and prizes are also complementary.
Contracts
CNF is a prime on the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Agile Cyber Technology 2 (ACT 2) contract. ACT 2 is a $950M multiple-award Indefinite-Delivery/Indefinite-Quantity (IDIQ) contract focused on providing rapid research, development, prototyping, demonstration, evaluation, and transition of cyber capabilities to the United States Department of Defense and Intelligence Community. CNF is also a prime on GSA IT Schedule 70 for Information Technology (SIN 132-51), Health IT (SIN 132-56, and the Highly Adaptive Cybersecurity Services (54151HACS).
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