As promised, I’m going to give you more information on the GenCyber program. I must admit that I have a bias toward cybersecurity programs like GenCyber and CyberPatriot. I’ll try to keep my description free of flowery terms and i’s dotted with little hearts.
The GenCyber (a mash-up of Generation Cyber) program is jointly sponsored by the NSA and NSF. There are programs for both students and teachers, though the student camps tend to get the most publicity. Each camp offers a variety of activities for campers to learn the GenCyber cybersecurity concepts: Confidentiality, Integrity, Availability, Thinking like an Adversary, Defense in Depth, and Keeping It Simple. From my previous posts, some of these should look familiar.
Each GenCyber camp is run by a team of faculty, staff, and professionals who have applied for and been awarded a grant to run a GenCyber camp. The application process for these grants is competitive and even teams that have been awarded the grants in the past are not guaranteed to be awarded one in the future.
Because each camp is designed and run by a different team, the activities of each camp are different. The use of the GenCyber concepts provides consistency of content across all the camps, no matter which team runs them. The camp I have been contributing to has had Maple (the CyberDog) visit, played card games to learn about risk management strategies, worked through an escape room loaded with cyber puzzles, competed in a CtF, and made a video of their learning experience. They also had a few sessions with cybersecurity professionals. Some joined them via zoom and others in person. The campers were able to hear what each of these professionals do on a daily basis, what education and training they had to get into their careers, and what skills they use in their work.
Over the week, the campers learn how to think critically and troubleshoot issues. The change to their thinking processes is the biggest take-away for them. Not all of the campers will go into cybersecurity for a career. With that said, the more people that understand how to think with a cybersecurity brain, no matter the field they are in, the safer we will all be.
On a side note, my little contribution to GenCyber is to come dressed as Lady Ada Lovelace, the first computer programmer. I start with her and walk them through the history of computers and into cyberspace.
For more information in GenCyber, go to: https://www.gen-cyber.com/about/
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