It’s been another busy summer with the DOE cyber workforce development program. I had nine of the most outstanding students I have ever taught. This is like a dream team classroom. Despite being from seven different states from all over the country they have bonded like a cohesive team and are hungry to learn, and I have plenty to feed them.
The first course was introduction to cybersecurity, and I used most of the core material for the ISC2 Certified in Cybersecurity course, supplemented with numerous work experience stories and an extra focus on NIST documents and working in the federal environment.
At the end of the first class all nine students took the ISC2 CC exam and far exceeded the 50% national average pass rate. The students also built their 3-d printed enigmas.
At the end of July, we wound down in our 10-week program that consists of four cybersecurity classroom courses as well as numerous field trips and lab exercises. We made our way around Aiken, ate out together a few times, did a cyber audit for a small insurance company in town, had guest speakers on OT, heard from one who had experienced disaster recovery, our annual cyber Jeopardy with CIOs from SRS, and the women in cyber panel.
The students presented summaries of their work and experience in a poster session to over 100 colleagues at the end of the summer. Their two posters, entitled “Behind the Breaches” from Intro. to Cybersecurity, and “Hack, Trace and Testify” from Digital Forensics were well received and demonstrates their thorough understanding of the material in the real world.
I am pleased that my students are leaving Aiken this Summer with a certification as well as familiarity with NIST 800-53 and CSF 2.0. I am so happy to see these capable people are going to replace all of us old folks in cyber security. I’m glad I’m retired, because I wouldn’t want to be looking over my shoulder for competition from this young bunch of folks.
I want to thank SRNS IT/Cyber for hosting a Capture the Flag for my interns. Also, over a dozen other professionals from SRS, military, local businesses, and former students are contributing to the enrichment and encouragement of my current students. I cannot emphasize enough how these acts of kindness are remembered by my students, even years later. You can change the cyber and IT world, one person at a time. Read more about our program at
https://www.usca.edu/news/2024/cyber-interns-educate-aiken-rotary-on-data-safety
