Cybersecurity Workshops at Local High School

This post was written by Senior Cybersecurity major, Ryan Donat.

I was recently invited, along with Dr. David Bibighaus, to present a series of workshops at CV YOU day, an event created and hosted by Cumberland Valley High School. The day is designed for high school students to explore various careers, hobbies, wellness strategies, and more. Thirty-minute workshops take place throughout the day for students to attend in order to find out more about their fields of interest, along with a College and Career Fair.

Dr. Bibighaus and I presented six workshop sessions on Cybersecurity as an industry as well as what it looks like in the educational setting at Messiah. Dr. Bibighaus discussed his extensive career in the field. He shared that he started out being an engineer and hated it, but then later discovered what his interests were as his career developed. He told some interesting stories from his journey, such as being part of the first team catching hackers for the Air Force, and how he led military red cell scenarios. He advised students to pursue what they are interested in, but to start with a broad education so that they can specialize later as their interests develop.

I then shared my route to majoring in cybersecurity, then explained my coursework and studies by showing an ethical hacking demonstration. Next, I taught on the Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability triad by asking students questions about how they would disrupt a company with infinite access to a company’s computers and networks. I finished up by explaining what I would tell my 18-year-old self if I had the chance.

We finished each presentation by giving time for questions, where the students asked a lot of thought-provoking questions. It was a great event and we enjoyed our time with everyone. Special thanks to all the students, as well as to teachers Keith Ensminger, Robert Newara, and Jay Yohe. And thank you for having us, Cumberland Valley High School!