Professor Mark Schmidt leads a class of students, raising awareness about cyber security at St. Cloud State’s Cyber-Security Camp. Photo by Nick Lenz ’11
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The National Security Agency (NSA) and its agents were on the St. Cloud State campus July 12-17, not investigating, but investing in the future of cyber security through the GenCyber project.
The NSA sponsored a cyber-security camp for 30 high school students, primarily from Minnesota, with some coming from as far as Utah. The students were selected on a competitive basis.
“This is a pilot project funded by the National Science Foundation and National Security Agency to organize camps across the country to raise awareness of cyber security,” said Mark Schmidt, director of the Center for Information Assurance Studies at St. Cloud State.
Throughout the week, students toured Netgain, a healthcare information technology company in St. Cloud, and learned about malware and how to protect themselves from online scams.
The GenCyber Project, a part of the CyberCorps grant, included $150,000 to run cyber camps for high school students and teachers on the St. Cloud State campus, as well as a high school camp at Lake Superior College in Duluth.
Students received a Chromebook laptop for the week-long camp from the NSA to work out cyber security problems and scenarios. Photo by Nick Lenz ’11
“The main goal is to raise awareness of cyber security with high school students and faculty across the nation,” Schmidt said.
In January, St. Cloud State earned the $2.78 million CyberCorps grant from the National Science Foundation for student scholarships to train future cyber security professionals. Within the grant, the University is partnering with information technology programs at Century College, White Bear Lake and Lake Superior College, Duluth, to encourage students there to seek a cybersecurity bachelor’s degree from St. Cloud State.
“St. Cloud State is fortunate to have been awarded this grant to help ensure the development of talent in the area of information assurance and computer security,” Schmidt said.
St. Cloud State is one of six Center for Academic Excellence schools in Minnesota, and one of about 180 in the United States, named by the National Security Agency and the Department of Homeland Security.
