About 250 Girl Scouts from San Bernardino and Riverside counties will learn about the world of cyber security at Cal State San Bernardino’s free GenCyber summer camp June 20-24.

As part of GenCyber, the scouts, ranging in ages 10-15, will have an opportunity to hack drones, secure passwords, explore cyber forensics, practice internet safety, play cyber capture the flag, learn team building skills on a high ropes course and much more.

The GenCyber program’s goal is to show middle school girls to the various aspects of cybersecurity. Recruitment efforts include outreach to Title 1 schools and underserved communities.

“The summer camp is a great way to expose these young women to career fields in cyber security they may not be aware of and having a lot of fun in the process,” said Tony Coulson, a professor in the university’s information and decision sciences department and director of the CSUSB Cyber Security Center.

The program continues to gather strong support as a number of businesses and government agencies plan on sending guest instructors to CSUSB to provide various cyber security-related instruction.

Those businesses and organizations include: Facebook, Google, IBM, CISCO, Northrup, Sigmanet, Mitre and Bank of America. The university’s Information Technology Services office will also be hosting a session on network security.

Some of the sessions include:

  • Setting up a simulated crime scene where the girls will learn about securing data, cyber security forensics, chain of custody, social engineering and solving a crime;
  • Teaching about drones, securing and hacking them;
  • A leadership session on the ropes course at the state-of-the-art CSUSB Leadership Challenge Center;
  • Learning the principles of cyber security using the Human Foosball Court at the university’s Student Recreation and Wellness Center; and
  • Learning to use individual Raspberry Pis (credit card size computers)
  • The program is sponsored by Cal State San Bernardino and the Girl Scouts of San Gorgonio council. Girl Scouts of San Gorgonio Council serves more than 12,000 girls in Riverside and San Bernardino counties with the dedicated support of 5,000 adult volunteers.

The day camp is supported by generous grants from the National Science Foundation and Southern California Edison. Nationally, there are 133 GenCyber camps taking place this summer at different universities around the country.

Visit the CSUSB Cyber Security Center website for more information about GenCyber Camp.

For more information on Cal State San Bernardino, contact the university’s Office of Strategic Communication at (909) 537-5007 and visit news.csusb.edu.