Ever Wanted to Hack?

Infographic by Shadt Skawratananond in Canva.com
Infographic by Shadt Skawratananond in Canva.com

Have you heard of Cyber Patriots?

The Cyber Patriots is a huge National Youth Cyber Education Program that has three programs within it:  the National Youth Cyber Defense Competition, AFA CyberCamps, and the Elementary School Cyber Education Initiative. All of which have one objective; to inspire students toward careers in cybersecurity science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines critical to our nation’s future.

The National Youth Cyber Defense Competition is the biggest competition Cyber Patriots has to offer. The competition puts the middle school competitors with hired IT professionals to manage the network of small companies. In the rounds of the competition, competitors get images of operating systems and have to identify the cyber vulnerabilities within the images. The teams aim to place in the top in their state so they get to earn an all-expense trip to Baltimore, where they will be competing in the National Competition where they can earn their scholarship and national recognition.

Another program within Cyber Patriots is the AFA Cybercamps. AFA Cyber Camps emphasize fun, hands-on learning of cybersecurity principles that are relevant and apply to their everyday lives. At the AFA Cybercamp, students learn the importance of cyber safety and how to protect their personal devices and information from outside threats. Cyber Patriots supported this camp throughout 24 middle/high schools and will have supported over 75 middle/high school camps in the summer of 2017.

The last program (but not the slightest least) is Elementary School Cyber Education Initiative. The purpose of this program is to engage elementary students in learning the principles of STEM, introduces them to careers in cybersecurity, and to help students understand about the importance of staying safe on the internet.

“Cyber Patriots is a great program for everyone because it teaches online safety. Soon, almost everyone in the world will be online so it would be a part of everyday security.”, Sohan Agnihotri (8), said. 

Canyon Vista is forming a Cyber Patriots team this year, so if interested, contact Mrs. Jennifer Arcaya for more information.