Penn State Berks has been awarded a GenCyber grant by the National Security Agency and the National Science Foundation. The vision of the GenCyber program is to be part of the solution to the Nation’s shortfall of skilled cybersecurity professionals. The GenCyber program aims that enough young people are inspired to direct their talents in cybersecurity that is critical to the future of our country’s national and economic security as we become even more reliant on cyber-based technology in every aspect of our daily lives. Penn State Berks Campus will organize two summer camps and several discovery programs for K-12 students to support the mission of the GenCyber program.
| According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, cybersecurity jobs are expected to grow at 18% from 2014 to 2024. |
The camp program will enhance K-12 students’ information security skills and knowledge as well as their awareness of standards and norms regarding cybersecurity. Students will be involved in many hands-on activities designed to protect and defend personal privacy and information systems, and they will also learn techniques for white hat hacking in a virtual computer laboratory. Summer Camp topics will include cryptography, digital forensics, computer networking, system penetration testing, and safe behavior online. Students will also meet with cybersecurity professionals and learn about pathways to cybersecurity-related education and careers.
Check out NSA’s Day of Cyber site to learn more cybersecurity careers.
Camp Time and Location
The summer camps will be held in Gaige Technology and Innovation Building in the Penn State Berks campus. The camp activities will take place in Rooms 208 and 206.
Who can Apply?
Rising 10, 11, and 12 graders.
Cost and Application Process
Each camp will enroll 20 students for free of change by the funding provided by the GenCyber program. For the residential camp, a scholarship is available for up 20 students to cover the cost of boarding at Penn State Berks campus.
The application for Summer 2017 summer camps is currently closed. We are planning to offer the camps in 2018. Admission decisions will be emailed on May 17th, 2017.
Admittance to the program is competitive based on the criteria outlined in the GenCyber program to enhance the information security education pipeline by recruiting students who are significantly underrepresented in the information security workforce. Academic achievement in STEM fields, interest in learning, and social maturity are considered among the selection criteria.
Admission decisions will be emailed to applications. When you receive your admission decision, you will be required to provide additional information to complete the camp registration.
Contact Information
Please contact Dr. Abdullah Konak (email: konak@psu.edu) for more information about the summer camps.
Draft Camp Program
| Day | Topics | Hands-on Activities | Cyber Security First Principles |
| 1 | Morning: Orientation, Overview of Cybersecurity, and Cyber Ethics
Afternoon: Introduction to computer networking and TCP/IP. |
§ Setting up TCP/IP
§ Basic computer networking commands § File sharing and FTP § Using a sniffer to capture and analyze TCP/IP packets
|
§ Abstraction
§ Layering |
| 2 | All Day: Fun with cryptography | § Traditional ciphers
§ Encryption, decryption, and digital signatures using Cryptool § Code breaking using frequency analysis § Key exchange puzzle § Data hiding and steganography |
§ Data Hiding |
| 3 | Morning: Career hours with professionals and academic counselors (all morning), guest speakers
Afternoon: Privacy and social engineering |
§ Password Cracking Using Cain & Abel
§ Test your social engineering IQ (Real or Scam) § Keyloggers and Malware. |
§ Least Privilege |
| 4 | Morning: Introduction to network security, cyber security threats, and defense.
Afternoon: Network attacks and defense |
§ Target discovery with ZenMap
§ Target enumeration ZenMap § Denial of service attacks § Smurf network attacks § IP Spoofing § Learn how to securing a PC |
§ Minimization (through reducing the attack surfaces)
§ Least Privilege |
| 5 | Team Projects | § Penetration testing
§ Ethical hacking § Securing a wireless network
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