Air Force CyberCamp offered in S

Air Force CyberCamp offered in Sandpoint

May 10, 2017

Young adults who want to learn about cybersecurity and technology career options will have the opportunity during one of two Air Force Association’s (AFA) CyberCamp summer camp programs hosted by University of Idaho Coeur d’Alene.

The hands-on programs, slated for June 19-23, are designed for students in seventh through 12th grades who have an interest in computer science or science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) career fields.

Participants in the camps will receive software and a kit designed to teach them cyber safety, cyber ethics, and critical network security skills and tools. The day camps will run from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. during the week at the UI Post Falls Research Park on Lochsa Way in Post Falls and at Sandpoint High School on Division Street in Sandpoint.

Through the camps, students will learn how to protect their personal devices and information from outside threats, as well as how to secure entire computer networks. Each AFA CyberCamp will culminate in a team-based competition that puts the campers in the role of IT administrators tasked with finding and addressing cybersecurity vulnerabilities in simulated network environments.

“The AFA CyberCamp is one component of the university’s Dig’n IT program, which encourages interest in computer science and technology-related careers,” said Charles Buck, associate vice president at UI Coeur d’Alene. “Dig’n IT also consists of a summer coding camp for middle school girls, JAVA coding camps, internships for high school students at local tech companies, and teacher trainings on integrating computer programming into the classroom.”

Those interested in taking part in the camps can register at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/afa-cybercamp-tickets-32872224709?aff=es2.

Camp registration is available for flexible pricing. The suggested cost is $50 per student, though no student will be turned away for an inability to pay. June 2 is the deadline to register for AFA’s CyberCamp.

Cybersecurity experts Alex Stanton, CEO of Exbabylon IT Services in Hayden, Idaho, and Karen Thurston, director of the Cybersecurity Training and Operations Center at UI Coeur d’Alene, will teach the camps.

The camps are part of the CyberPatriot National Youth Cyber Education Program created by the Air Force Association in 2009 to attract students to cybersecurity and other STEM disciplines.

In addition to the annual National Youth Cyber Defense Competition and the new AFA CyberCamp program, CyberPatriot has launched an elementary school cyber education Initiative designed to introduce young students to online safety. To learn more about CyberPatriot programs, visit uscyberpatriot.org.