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CyberPatriots Boot Camp at Honolulu Community College

Teachers from ʻAiea, ʻIolani, Kaimukī, Leilehua, McKinley, Mid-Pacific and Sacred Hearts Academy spent four intense days participating in a CyberPatriot Boot Camp, the first of its kind at Honolulu Community College. They learned the basics of cyber security including understanding the anatomy of a cyber attack, cryptography, digital forensics, networking and operating system hardening.

The teachers also got more insight on what it takes to successfully compete in the National CyberPatriot Competition, a high school cyber defense competition that introduces and inspires students considering cyber security or other science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) career pathways. Leilehua High and ʻIolani School are past national finalists.

Meeting the experts

The teachers also heard from industry professionals like Michael Herr with Referentia. “Cyber security is one of the fastest growth areas in the job market today,” said Herr. “The CyberPatriots program is a great introduction into this career path at the high school level. Students come in to the program with little or no knowledge of IT systems and they come out understanding how to defend and mitigate complex security breaches,” said the CyberPatriot expert.

Other industry speakers included Rodolf Sabalburo from the National Security Association, Sally Dunan a Cisco Academy Instructor Trainer at Honolulu CC, Chris Hecker from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Jake Ross from Cyber Hui, Debora Nissenbaum from the Defense Information Systems Agency and Hal Corcoran from Kapiʻolani CC.

The event was organized by Honolulu CC’s Aaron Tanaka, a professor in the Computing, Electronics and Networking Technology program and Wayne Lewis, a professor and Cisco Academy manager.

The conference was sponsored by a grant from the Cisco Networking Academy with additional support from Referentia, the Cyber Hui, Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association, and the Air Force Association.

Read the Honolulu CC news release for more.

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