The Homeland Security and Criminal Justice Department at Sul Ross State University, in collaboration with the University of Scranton-Pennsylvania, held a Cyber Security and Cyber Crimes Investigation Camp for area high school students in Alpine from July 9-11.
The camp provided 13 students from Alpine, Fort Davis, Marfa, Del Rio, Presidio, Terlingua, and Scranton schools with a unique opportunity to explore potential career paths in the rapidly growing field of cyber security. Through hands-on learning experiences and lessons from university professors and cyber intelligence professionals, the students engaged deeply with the subject matter.
During the camp, students were introduced to the basics of cybersecurity, cybercrimes, and profiles of cybercriminals. They also learned about cyberlaw, cybercrime investigations, cryptocurrency investigations, artificial intelligence investigations, and deepfake detection. The curriculum included lectures, hands-on exercises, case discussions, a tour of Sul Ross State University’s data center, computer simulations, and a capture-the-flag competition.
Classes were conducted in the Digital Forensics and Cybersecurity Lab. In the capture-the-flag competition, the “Blue Gatorade” team, consisting of Bowen Corbin (Fort Davis), Zachary Noll (Big Bend), and Edgar Reyes (Del Rio), secured third place among 15 groups from the University of Scranton and Sul Ross State University.
In addition to instructors from Sul Ross, the University of Scranton, the University of Miami, and Boston University, the camp featured contributions from the SRSU Office of Information Technology and the Alpine FBI office.
Image Credit: SRSU
