Good Opportunity - Build a team of high school hackers

the_hutch

So this is a really cool volunteer opportunity. High schools across America (specifically one's with Air Force ROTC programs) are starting cyber security clubs. These will function as an extra curricular activity similar to the way debate team, or chess club, etc... works. They will meet after school and will go to competitions during some of the weekends throughout the year. Of course, most Air Force ROTC teachers aren't qualified to teach the material. So that's where you come in. You can volunteer to help as a mentor (where you merely contribute to the program online with minimal involvement) or as a coach for a local high school near you. CyberPatriot: The National High School Cyber Defense Competition

emerald_octane

Wow that's cool. I wonder if us CISSP folks can get CPE credits?

dover

Hutch! Thank you my simian friend! I've been looking for something like this and the information (and amount) of training materials is great!

I just signed up to be a mentor - hopefully they'll be able to match me up with a group/program in my area.

Have you done this by any chance?

Thanks for the link.

NotHackingYou

I participated in a meeting with some local high school kids who are in this program. They do some cool stuff and this is a great program.

the_hutch

I actually put in a request for a coaching position, but haven't heard anything back yet. Its been almost a week, so if I don't hear anything soon, I'm going to try to start tracking down someone to contact for feedback. I'll let you guys know when I hear something.

the_hutch

emerald_octane wrote: »

Wow that's cool. I wonder if us CISSP folks can get CPE credits?

I can almost guarantee you would. But not sure how much you would get.

zenhound

Is it bad that I want to do it to learn from them as much as to help? You know some of those kids are doing amazing things with iphones and can probably hack their TVs in ways we old folks can't even understand.

FloOz

dang that looks so cool! I wish they had that during my high school days

eansdad

Looks like fun, and I happen to work for a school district with a JROTC that has the high school technology department head as it's liason. I doubt we have the kids to win but it looks to be an interesting experiance.

Everyone

High school is JROTC... looks like they do it for CAP and Navy Sea Cadets too. I was in CAP when I was in High School... wish they would have had something like this when I was in.

Doesn't look like any in my area are participating. Oh well, I'm not sure my schedule would allow me to volunteer anyway.

computer g33k

I love this idea, I wish they had something like this when I was in high school.

cgrimaldo

I went ahead and submitted my application to be a mentor/volunteer. After I registered my account, they did a background check on me. Apparently, it went well. I got confirmation that I can be a mentor and that I just had to look at what schools in my area are participating and if they needed someone, they would put me in contact with them. I had at least 10 schools available (San Antonio, Texas) so I'm sure someone needs some kind of assistance. I'm' actually excited to see how I can help the students!

the_hutch

cgrimaldo wrote: »

I went ahead and submitted my application to be a mentor/volunteer. After I registered my account, they did a background check on me. Apparently, it went well. I got confirmation that I can be a mentor and that I just had to look at what schools in my area are participating and if they needed someone, they would put me in contact with them. I had at least 10 schools available (San Antonio, Texas) so I'm sure someone needs some kind of assistance. I'm' actually excited to see how I can help the students!

Maybe we can get assigned to the same school. What part of San Antonio are you in? I am south-side downtown.

cgrimaldo

1604 and 90..so Southwest High School, Lackland and John Jay are all options for me....That would be cool if we got assigned to the same school.

spicy ahi

Sorry for digging up an old thread, but I just signed up to mentor a local school in my area for CyberPatriot VI next year. I was just wondering you all mentored teams in CPV? If so, can I ask you offline how things work? I've attended the first online meeting last month and plan on attending this months meeting tomorrow but if it's like last months, there wasn't much mention of what the kids actually do in the competition. The coach mentioned some things but I wanted to ask mentors what they did to help their teams.

the_hutch

It wasn't nearly what I was originally led to believe. They aren't trained in offensive capabilities at all. Strictly defensive. Still a good experience though. But its tough to really get them to commit to the program. We didn't even end up doing the tournament at the end of the year because the team kinda fell apart, with several people dropping out.

As far as what they actually do... The students are given a series of vulnerable systems and have to harden them. Simple as that. Mostly local policy and configuration settings. They just need to be familiar with secure best practices for server and client operating system configurations.

NotHackingYou

I was a mentor for a group this year for the Spokane Civil Air Patrol. My team took 3rd in WA state for the servies division.

the_hutch

Congrats Carl...not bad. It sucked for us, cause I had two kids that were REALLY good, and then a few others who were not very dedicated. And in the end, couldn't get a full group together for the competition.

spicy ahi

Oh? So pursuing OSCP to prep for this competition would be overkill? That was how I was going to prep for it, lol. I still think I'm going to go through with it since I got my employer's approval for full reimbursment (both the training and certification fee) when I pass so there isn't a real reason why I shouldn't do it. I guess it makes sense that it'd be fairly simple, considering that they are trying to create interest in the field for young folks.

As a first year team they made it to DC and I know they're in win-mode come next year. Along with that, all the members of the team this year have committed to return so I was worried that I wouldn't know enough to help them out. They still may know more than me, so maybe I just need to not worry about that

Also, congrats to you and your team Carl! Go easy on me next year!

hoktauri

I saw this earlier and applied for a mentor slot, might be fun.

NotHackingYou

In my case it really was the cadets that did all the work. The practiced hard and often and truly earned their spot. They did not have a lot of equipment, only a few run of the mill laptops.

I was only able to meet with them a few times and offer them support via e-mail. When we did meet we went over the images and worked on strategies to quickly identify and resolve issues and strategies to increase their speed, efficiency, consistency and teamwork. This competition is really great because being the best in IT/Infosec won't necessarily get you a win - it really emphasizes several skillets. Time counts and simple strategies to ensure a cohesive team can make the difference.

Overall, I would recommend a position as a mentor to anyone with the desire. It was a great experience and I will be signing up to mentor the same group for next year's competition.

spicy ahi

I was supposed to mentor this year but I didn't think I could make the time to help out (and rightly so, looking back) But with a new job and shift work, I think I'll have the time to help them out. I also asked the question about mentoring multiple teams because I had already committed to a team but thought it would be something interesting for my sons school to participate in as well. So if they do field a team, I'll probably help them out as well. Guess it's time to brush up on my Windows and Linux sysadmin skills.

Mrock4

CyberPatriot is awesome, I first signed up last year. Not sure if I'll make it this year due to my studies.

the_hutch

spicy ahi wrote: »

Oh? So pursuing OSCP to prep for this competition would be overkill?

Definitely overkill for cyberpatriot. But definitely worth it, whether getting reimbursed or not. I'm currently about 2 months into the course.

spicy ahi

the_hutch wrote: »

Definitely overkill for cyberpatriot. But definitely worth it, whether getting reimbursed or not. I'm currently about 2 months into the course.

Indeed. I'm just glad I got approved for the reimbursement because I don't have the funds to pay for the 90 day option (which is how long I think I'll need at a minimum) and be able to quickly move on to the next cert, which would be CISM if I can complete the OSCP by September. That way I'd have three solid months to prepare. At least now that I can get it reimbursed, I can pick up the CISA study materials right away and not have to wait until I have enough money for that and the test. Hopefully my cert plans work out that way, so I can spend '14 working on that elusive CCNP.

WafflesAndRootbeer

Speaking of cyber-attacks, anyone noticed any sites going down right now? I'm having trouble accessing Google among other notable sites while lesser ones work fine.