The need for cybersecurity professionals continues to grow every year by leaps and bounds. Currently there are more jobs than qualified professionals to fill them. Introducing high school students to the numerous jobs is one avenue that could eventually help fill the void.
The GenCyber Camp hosted last month by Augusta University and the School of Computer and Cyber Sciences’ Cyber Institute was an opportunity for local students interested in the field to get a glimpse at what they may expect going forward.
More than 200 high school juniors and seniors applied for the camp, but only 30 were selected.
Matthew Nichols, a rising high school senior from Milton, Georgia, has been interested in cybersecurity for a few years and was ready to learn more about what the field has to offer.
“I’m not super advanced in cybersecurity so I felt like I needed a bigger, fundamental knowledge on it,” Nichols said. “I felt like this place could really help me with that.”
The week-long event gave Nichols a wealth of knowledge as he was expecting to learn just the basics of cybersecurity. Instead, he learned about the CIA triad, cryptography, robotics, python programming and more.