Cybersecurity Camp Wrap-Up

By: Dr. Toni Kaui

On Saturday 20 February, nearly 80 traditionally under anticipated girls, in grades 8 through 12, hailing from Hawaiʻi, Kauaʻi, Maui, and Oʻahu, turned on their computers, opened Zoom, and joined in to welcome Caitlin Boyce, from the SANS Institute, as she shared her experiences in cybersecurity to kick off the CompuGirls Hawaiʻi 2021 Spring camp. These young ladies spent nine weeks being introduced to cybersecurity as a field of study and viable career track. It was an educational journey for everyone involved where we not only explored and introduced new technology through the curriculum but also used a new technology for the CompuGirls classroom. We met each week for the camp in the virtual setting of Gather.town. This service allowed the girls to communicate and interact with one another using avatars and a simulated classroom setting that made the camp feel more like an in-person experience.

The weekly sessions were separated into three blocks of three weeks each, allowing the girls to learn from different teachers three main segments of cybersecurity. In the first block, CompuGirls were introduced to cybersecurity and digital citizenship, while in the second block the CompuGirls were taught encryption and decryption using Caesar and Vigenere ciphers. “Although decrypting using ciphers was hard, it was cool to learn how they worked,” one CompuGirl shared. During this second session, CompuGirls were introduced to the basics of Python Programming, to demonstrate how computers are tools used to simplify work. Each week brought more depth to the discussion and more engagement with the material as the girls truly learned to be cybersecurity warriors. The first two sessions were a great foundational block for the final three weeks where the girls got to work with a Microbit, which is a pocket-sized computer used for learning the basics of programming. Microbits have an LED light display, sensors, as well as many inputs and outputs that, when programmed, let it interact with you and your world.

One CompuGirl told me, “I didn’t know what the Microbit was when it arrived in the mail, but after unpacking it and getting it started, it was fun to see what it could do.” CompuGirls further investigated coding in order to design and develop a password generator using the MicroBits. This password generator was the star of their culminating project, in which CompuGirls created a 30-second infomercial to promote the sale of their password generator.

The Spring camp came to a close this past Saturday, April 24th after nine wonderful weeks of educational cybersecurity lessons. For this closing ceremony, Mentor-Teachers shared the CompuGirls’ final project infomercials, about their password generators, which were all magnificently done. At the end, our guest speaker, Cayce Mahon shared her experiences working in the private sector as a penetration tester for Occumsec.

It has been an incredible pleasure and honor being a part of CompuGirls Hawaiʻi and working to encourage and motivate girls to pursue college pathways and careers in Cybersecurity. I would like to give a special thanks to all the girls who attended, the staff that made all of this happen, and our expert speakers who gave the girls true insight into the world and profession of cybersecurity. We are very excited to continue this learning with our girls through our summer camp this June which will dive more deeply into Computer Programming.

Written by:

Toni Kaui

STEM Ambassador

Center for Gender Equity in Science and Technology