Article by Phoenix writer Elizabeth Kalin Tynan
Every Thursday evening in Tech Room 2, the buzz of 20 eager Junior and Senior students can be heard, gathering to learn and examine the ins and outs of the field of cybersecurity.
Kellenberg’s Introduction to Cybersecurity course meets from 5:30pm to 6:50pm on Thursday nights, for a total of 9 thorough sessions navigating what cybersecurity entails in today’s world. It began on October 9th and will conclude on December 11th.
The class consists of a number of structured activities, focusing on key topics like phishing, networking, server connection, coding cryptography and digital forensics.
It also spends time covering individual incidents as case studies, such as the Colonial pipeline attack and the recent Louvre heist, showing how cybersecurity extends beyond our ideas of it only pertaining to online spaces. Students are tasked with analyzing these events, identifying how and why they happened within the coding and programs associated with them, and creating potential fixes for what they find.
In the most recent sessions, students have been exploring security within the applications of the Linux operating system, creating firewalls to protect the personal worlds they have been coding during the course. They are also making use of cyber range websites, safe environments that simulate cyberattack scenarios and serve as “playgrounds” to test systems and investigate how hackers break through security measures. They then test each other’s creations for any holes or weaknesses, fostering a stronger sense of shared goal and promoting healthy criticism and teamwork among peers.
This is the first time this course is being offered at Kellenberg. A key player in its conception has been computer teacher Mr. Campbell. “It’s really Mr. Campbell’s brain child,” explains Mrs. Cody, chairperson of the Computer Education department. The course is a passion project, aiming to open students’ and parents’ eyes to the true depth of cybersecurity’s importance in our current society.
The class is uniting students across interest levels, from those set on a career in Computer Science to those still unsure of their futures, experimenting with the many different opportunities available at Kellenberg. “Cybersecurity is a field that will always exist in the future,” says Mrs. Cody. The class will remain useful in its knowledge and on résumés for any unsure student.
As of now, the class is a one-time occurrence. If enough interest is shown, the course may be offered again in the spring, and may even become a regularly scheduled class, similar to the business nighttime classes held in partnership with Molloy University, teaching management and marketing.
