17-year-old Kyrie Frith watched digital forensics experts after growing up on her favorite shows Law & Order and Bones. “I’ve always been fascinated by how cybersecurity can help find criminals,” she said.
Last year, she was placed in a cybersecurity class at Lincoln High School in Alabama. She learned how to deal with the encryption challenge and joined the All-Girls Cybersecurity Team in Huntsville’s All-State Game. Their scores are higher than those of adult and college teams. “I never thought I was a technician,” Fries said. “But I realized you can use your creativity to work with many different passwords.”
There are an estimated 8,000 unfilled cybersecurity jobs in Alabama, with 750,000 cybersecurity jobs open nationwide. To address the growing talent gap, schools in Talladega County have launched cybersecurity courses for high school students, supported by a non-profit digital promise of technical education, dedicated to engaging in cyber and cybersecurity careers. The Alabama school district, which mostly serves rural students, is providing students with direct access to students to graduate, enter entry-level cybersecurity positions, or study other studies at college.
The program has taught more than 200 high school students in the second year about network problem solving, data analysis and incident response. “We are a rural area with high poverty rates,” said Brooke Morgan, the district’s innovative learning coordinator. “This network track will ensure that all our students have access to equitable educational and career opportunities.”
Start with the basics of cybersecurity
Brian Kelly taught information technology at Lincoln High School for years, when he was recruited to recruit students for introductory cybersecurity classes through a partnership between the school district and Digital Promise.
In the first few lessons, he tells them all the different ways they can break into physical houses. Soon, they graduated from virtual simulation to break into their school’s technical system. "We call it 'think like an opponent,'" Kelly said.
With the increase in cybersecurity attacks such as phishing, malware and ransomware, the demand for cybersecurity experts has increased nationwide. The number of cybersecurity positions is expected to grow by 33% by 2033, while the latest developments in artificial intelligence have only increased the urgent need for professionals who can prevent AI-generated cyber attacks.
Ira Lacy, a cybersecurity engineer and cybersecurity expert, helped launch the state’s first cybersecurity course, said it’s important to educate digital students with ethics at the center. “These kids grew up online and then we taught them all these extra technical skills,” he said. “Imagine the damage they could do. We make sure they know they have a responsibility to improve their skills and use them to take care of others.”
He witnessed how to provide students with knowledge about cybersecurity at a young age, enabling them to succeed in competitive cybersecurity efforts such as information security analysts and IT auditors. “If you can teach your kids early through years of courses, they can walk away from up to six certificates that they graduate from high school,” he said. “The students I started in 2014 are now in their 20s and they are the leadership team of the company.”
Lincoln High School senior Seth Walker is in his second year of online courses. He is learning more advanced programs to prevent cyberattacks from banks, hospitals and schools. "If I hadn't taken a Level 1 class last year, I don't think I would have pursued cybersecurity at all," he said.
After graduation, he will begin his cybersecurity degree at Troy University. “My ideal job is to be a network auditor and make sure the company has the right security protocols,” Walker said.
Encourage girls to train cybersecurity work
Given the gender imbalance in the cybersecurity workforce, the program has made efforts to recruit girls by increasing the understanding that cybersecurity threats are personal and approachable. "Because it's another technical course about connecting and protecting each other," said Kimberly Smith, chief innovation officer at Digital Promise.
Kelly’s biggest challenge was explaining to his students that they don’t need to be expert programmers to prepare for cybersecurity work. “It’s like a misunderstanding from the way movies play the hacker with a hoodie, drinking dew,” he said. “This adds to the assumption that only some people can be good at learning the network.”
Frith felt competent after his initial experience with the all-women team, and he convinced her four friends to compete later. "At first, I felt like a wanderer, but I had more people interested in taking classes with me," she said.
She plans to get a digital forensic certificate to work in criminal justice, just like she sees on Law and Order. "I've always loved these shows and now I can get things I like because I understand the cybersecurity of the school," Fries said.