Special Program Seeks to Lead Students to Cybersecurity Careers

by Lori Johnston

Jeremiah Johnson has had to fend off hackers as a student at The Community College of Baltimore County.

He wasn't alone, but joined by his peers and competitors from other schools in the Mid-Atlantic Regional Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition, one of three student competitions conducted by CyberWATCH, a program focused on the cybersecurity profession.

"For a three-day period of time, they make your life living hell," Johnson says. "They use every exploit in the book against you, and your job is to stop them."

The team competition draws in not just technical knowledge but ethical, legal, forensics and other training that Johnson says add to students' college experience and education.

"There are very few opportunities in a learning environment where you can do things that most would consider unethical. When I say that, here's what I mean: When somebody talks about hacking a password or breaking into a Website, it is generally frowned upon," Johnson says. "This is an opportunity to see (hacking) in action ... not only see it, but from our perspective, have it happen to us."

Breaking Down Classroom Barriers
CyberWATCH, which was founded in 2005 by a group of 10 schools in the Washington, D.C. area, has grown to 45 higher education institutions, businesses, and government agencies. Funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation, CyberWATCH's mission is to improve the quantity and quality of the cybersecurity, or information assurance, workforce, by offering education and hands-on programs from elementary school to college.

CyberWATCH is involved in more than student competitions, although that's where students are most likely to become familiar with CyberWATCH, says Robert J. Spear, director of CyberWATCH, which is headquartered at Prince George's Community College in Largo, Md. CyberWATCH also is involved in curriculum development, faculty training, job fairs, and internships.

Participating in CyberWATCH opens doors and lets students imagine what's possible in the cybersecurity field in ways that Johnson says isn't possible when taking individual courses.

"This is not something that you can learn in any classroom," says Johnson, 33, who has worked in the systems engineering field for the government and also served in the Marine Corps. "In a college environment, you can't have such a rapidly evolving program while maintaining the strict, rigid college format. It's an amazing opportunity."