Communications of the ACM
Computer Hackers Don't Stand a Chance Against These Girls
From left, instructor Vernecia Griffin, camp counselor Sera Crasta, and middle school campers solve a mystery at the International Spy Museum in Washington as part of the GenCyber cybersecurity camp.
Credit: Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post
The GenCyber program consists of 119 summer camps sponsored by the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) and the National Academy of Sciences. The free camps are designed for girls ranging from kindergarten through 12th grade, and some of the camps are geared toward teachers who want to integrate computer security literacy into their classrooms.
This year, Virginia hosted the most camps with 11, followed by Texas with 10 and Hawaii with 9. Next year, GenCyber organizers expect to have 200 camps nationwide.
The camps are for girls who want to understand how the Internet, computers, smartphones, and other wireless devices can be kept safe from bullies, hackers, spies, and terrorists.
"We focused on team building, learning new words and concepts, and then just pumped it up," says GenCyber teacher Shade Adeleke, who also is a science, technology, engineering, and math instructor at Prince George's Community College.
At one Maryland-based camp, students created a "honeypot," an unprotected website rigged so they could watch hackers breaking into it. Campers also visited the NSA's National Cryptologic Museum to learn how national security data protection works.
From The Washington Post
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