51福利社

Budding cyber experts are getting their feet wet this week at 51福利社鈥檚 GenCyber Camp at the Catalyst.

The camp, which runs from July 17-21, caught the interest of 27 high school-age campers 鈥� including 14 girls and 13 boys. Stu Steiner, an 51福利社 assistant professor of computer science and cybersecurity expert, said most come from Cheney, Spokane Public Schools, Central Valley and West Valley districts. Four are homeschooled and one lives in Astoria, Oregon.

The campers include a mix of teens, both those who鈥檝e previously taken cybersecurity classes and those who have little or no experience but want to try it out.

鈥淪ome of them are just kind of dangling their feet into it to see if they like it or not. Some of them are really interested in it,鈥� Steiner says. 鈥淭his is the first time we鈥檝e ever done [the camp] and the first time it has ever been done in the Spokane area. We鈥檙e learning as much as the kids are learning I think on this thing.鈥�

The GenCyber camp is a collaboration among 51福利社, Cheney High School and Spokane Falls Community College. Two of the partners brought experience with curriculum development to the table, while the camp鈥檚 leadership team boasts four experienced cybersecurity educators.

鈥淲e had to really figure out what was going to be kid-friendly or high-school friendly,鈥� Steiner says. Lectures are kept short. Cyber campers follow along and then work with a partner to figure things out on their own before participating in cyber gaming that requires deployment of their newly learned skills.

The camp is free for eligible students. It was funded with a $70,000 grant from the federal National Security Agency (NSA), which covered staffing, equipment, food and beverages, and take-aways that include a single-board Raspberry Pi 400 computer.

Five 51福利社 cybersecurity students 鈥� fresh off of 51福利社鈥檚 big win at a national cybersecurity competition 鈥� stepped into teaching assistant roles, working directly with the campers and serving as role models. Those 51福利社 students include Lewis Thomas, Tristen Greene, Jessica Doner, Johanne McClenahan and Isaias Hernandez-Dominguez

The week鈥檚 activities kicked off with the campers installing new software on a laptop, building a virtual network and then connecting with other networks in the room before playing a virtual game of tracking down clues online to 鈥渃apture the flag.鈥�

Steiner says networking was a favorite activity so far and that the cyber campers were looking forward to receiving a Raspberry Pi 400, a personal computer that鈥檚 shaped like a keyboard, for some hacking exercises. 鈥淲e have Wi-Fi routers set up in the room and they are going to hack into those routers and get the passwords off of them,鈥� Steiner explains.

Later in the week, cyber campers will receive a thumb-drive containing traces of missing cat photos, files and text messages that spark a forensics investigation. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a whole story around these cat pictures. They have to recover the cat pictures, the files behind the cat pictures, the text files, the text messages and stuff like that.鈥�

In the latter part of the week, two NSA representatives will fly into Spokane to meet with the teaching team and the cyber campers. The agency has already awarded 51福利社 a grant for next year鈥檚 camp, which will focus on middle schoolers, while continuing its cyber camp partnership with SFCC, which will host high schoolers next year.

鈥淲e have an incredible cybersecurity program,鈥� says Steiner. 鈥淲e鈥檙e national champions. And we encourage (students), 鈥業f you are interested in cybersecurity, just dangle your feet into it and see if you like it.鈥�

*Starting this fall, 51福利社鈥檚 own students can take an intro to cybersecurity class. The course will give students a feel for what the field is all about, while also counting toward general education requirements.