CybersecurityBuilding the Cybersecurity Workforce of the Future

Published 17 February 2020

This year marked the third Cybercore Summer Camp for area high school students and teachers, and the first year that cybersecurity was included in the STEM Summer Camp for younger students at the College of Eastern Idaho (CEI). It was also Idaho’s first year as a statewide participant in the national Girls Go CyberStart competition. And 2019 saw two area high school students spend the summer as cybersecurity interns at the laboratory. INL offers a recap of all the ways “INL is building the cybersecurity workforce of the future.”

This year marked the third Cybercore Summer Camp for area high school students and teachers, and the first year that cybersecurity was included in the STEM Summer Camp for younger students at the College of Eastern Idaho (CEI). It was also Idaho’s first year as a statewide participant in the national Girls Go CyberStart competition. And 2019 saw two area high school students spend the summer as cybersecurity interns at the laboratory. INL offers a recap of all the ways “INL is building the cybersecurity workforce of the future.”

Girls Go Cyberstart
Girls Go CyberStart is a free online game open to high school students across the state of Idaho. Through a series of challenges, puzzles, games and other interactive events, students learn skills like computer forensics, web vulnerabilities, the Linux operating system and coding in Python.

In 2019, Idaho was one of 27 states that participated in the free national event developed by the SANS Institute, the world’s largest provider of cybersecurity training and professional certification. For more than a decade, INL has had a strategic partnership with the SANS Institute that includes sending researchers and training teams to SANS events to instruct audiences on industrial control system cybersecurity. When the opportunity arose to bring Girls Go CyberStart to Idaho, it was a natural fit and opportunity to encourage students to consider careers in cybersecurity.

The game is unique because students don’t need any prior experience or knowledge in cybersecurity or information technology to play. All that’s required is a laptop and internet access. As participants work their way through levels, the game gets more difficult. Playing alone or on teams, students solve challenges, gain points and advance through levels earning prizes along the way. In addition to individual prizes, such as trips, gift certificates, and computers, the three Idaho schools with the most participants win monetary prizes. Idaho girls who participate in the program are eligible to win one of at least 10 $500 scholarships for tuition at the college of their choice.

And although the program is called Girls Go CyberStart, boys can also participate. If at least five girls from a school form a team and complete six challenges, then the school wins access for 50 more students, boys or girls.