Two Pennsylvania College of Technology information technology students recently presented at a conference, where they detailed their efforts to address the shortage of cybersecurity professionals. The project was part of a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant. Margot S. Rinehart of Downingtown and Allison F. Chapman of Montoursville presented "Capture the Flag as a Testing Platform" at the Consortium for Computing Sciences in Colleges Northeast Region Conference at the University of New Haven in West Haven, Conn.
The students, both seeking bachelor's degrees in information assurance and cybersecurity, have served as mentors for a college credit introductory information assurance and cybersecurity course offered to local high school juniors and seniors. Jacob R. Miller and Sandra Gorka, associate professors of computer science, and Alicia McNett, instructor of computer information technology, developed the Penn College course through the NSF CyberCorps: Scholarship for Service program.
During the 2017-18 academic year, 17 high-schoolers took the course; currently, 23 students are enrolled. The class, which meets once per week, is designed to introduce students to cybersecurity careers.
Rinehart and Chapman discussed how they devised a final exam for the course in the form of a Capture the Flag-style event. The duo employed several different operating systems to create and configure virtualized desktops that students remotely accessed to search for the flags. That effort tested the high-schoolers' acquired knowledge.
Offering information at the conference continued the college's commitment of sharing resources and outcomes related to its work - facilitated under the NSF grant - of addressing the shortage in the cybersecurity workforce. Earlier this year, college faculty members presented a session on the initiative at ShmooCon, an annual East Coast hacker convention.
For more on Pennsylvania College of Technology, readers may visit http://www.pct.edu, email admissions@pct.edu or call 800-367-9222.
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