A camp teaching high school students how to become “cyber warriors” is underway at the University of San Diego.
The GenCyber Academy of Excellence offers 10th- through 12th-graders an opportunity to learn basic cybersecurity skills and ethics. Students also respond to mock cyber attacks, as well as hack and design systems to prevent them.
“With daily cyber attacks on government, corporations and other key institutions, these camps are building a pipeline of young people ready to meet these challenges and develop interest in careers that offer starting salaries of $80,000 or more,” said Chell Roberts, dean of USD’s Shiley-Marcos School of Engineering.
The National Science Foundation and National Security Agency fund the GenCyber program. USD’s camp, which runs until Friday, is among four similar programs in California and the only one in San Diego, according to the university.
More than 200 students submitted applications for the camp’s 40 spots. Students come from all over California, and as far away as Virginia and Abu Dhabi, according to USD.
The camp includes field trips to the FBI and General Atomics offices in San Diego. Students also visit a Cyber Range Demo where hacking skills are used to scan sites and obtain protocol, ports and other digital information used to “penetrate a site.”
–City News Service
