Homeland Security Official Visits Cal Poly's Cyber Camp

While the future of cybersecurity huddled together in teams to compete in an exercise at Cal Poly's cyber camp, industry professionals participated in a roundtable discussion in the next room regarding the challenges the field faces.

Cybersecurity is a growing industry, but not enough students are pursuing careers in it, said Mark Weatherford, the Department of Homeland Security’s deputy undersecretary for cybersecurity.

“This really is a problem for the U.S.,” he said.  “The lack of skilled cyber professionals is profound.”

Weatherford headed the roundtable discussion Friday that was a part of the last day of the university’s weeklong cyber camp.  He said Secretary Janet Napolitano recently announced plans to form a taskforce to grapple with workforce issues at the department.

“There is almost zero unemployment,” he said.  “If you’re pretty good in this business, you can get a job somewhere.”

Employees from computer companies and government agencies also shared what the industry could use more of in their view.

More women in the field, a broader range of skills from students graduating from programs, and a better system to transition those new to the industry from the classroom to the workforce were among the suggestions the panel gave.

Weatherford said school alone wouldn’t be enough to motivate students to pursue a career in cybersecurity.

“Very few kids grow up wanting to be cybersecurity professionals or hackers,” he said.  “We have to change the culture to spark that curiosity.   You have to have a passion for it.”

Part of the push to prompt that passion comes from opportunities such as Cal Poly’s cyber camp.

Professor Dan Manson has been organizing the annual camp for the past three years.   The camp had 40 participants this year, with ages ranging from 18 to 60, he said.

The attendees have “a shared passion to learn cybersecurity and go into the field,” he said.

Karen Evans, national director of the U.S. Cyber Challenge, said besides learning new skills, the campers are competing for scholarships to help further their education.

More than $40,000 in scholarships were awarded last year at the various camps, Evans said.

Angela Ray, a civilian employee with the Department of Defense, came from South Korea to attend the camp.  The flight from there to the United States typically takes 13 hours, but it took her a week to get to Cal Poly. 

The 35-year-old mother of three said she attempted to fly with her daughters on space-available flights through the military, but when she couldn’t find room on any flights for all four, she went ahead and booked her tickets full price.

Ray, who also is a student at the University of Maryland, said she celebrated her daughter’s 10th birthday on the airplane, but the long trip was worth it to be around others who share her excitement about cyber security.

“We don’t have opportunities like this in Korea,” she said. “And I am a student studying cyber security, so I didn’t want to miss out on the opportunity.”

On Friday, students huddled in teams to compete in a capture the flag event. 

The competition involved the teams testing the security of a bank’s system, tasking them with finding the location of key pieces of information and establishing phone lines so that information can be stolen undetected. 

Josh Chin, a cybersecurity threat analyst with Net Force, said it typically take 416 days between when a system is broken into and when that breach is discovered. 

These companies have confidential data on file from defense contracts to intellectual property and patents, all of which could do major damage if they get in the wrong hands, Chin said.

“That basically undermines an entire company,” he said.

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