Hardware Security
We teach the campers how to use a linux system with Raspberry Pis that they get to keep after the camp! We demonstrate cyberattacks that use the hardware such as bypassing password protection using a USB stick. Our instructors have plenty of hands-on activities to dive into these concepts.
Internet Security
The campers learn the basics of network connections and the cybersecurity risks that they pose: for example injections attacks or Denial of Service Attacks.
Information encoding and Error Correcting Codes
We will study how to encode information to make it understandable by a computer and how to protect it from errors that happen during communication. There will be an emphasis on binary encoding, hexadecimal encoding, ASCII, UTF8, and Barcodes. We will demonstrate error correction through fun games in class. Time permitting, we will also study QR codes which are just about everywhere these days.
Cryptography and Blockchain
Cryptography is the cornerstone of cybersecurity. The students will learn the concepts of encryption, digital signatures and hashing. We will review historical examples such as the Caesar cipher and play games of encryption/decryption. We will demonstrate these concepts by competing in a cryptocurrency challenge developed exclusively for the camp where participants score points by mining on the blockchain.
Capture the Flag Competitions
We will illustrate all the new concepts we've learned by playing Capture the Flag Competitions (CTFs) which are challenges where each team scores point by solving problems related to some of the concepts we've learned. We will use the CyberHub platform maintained by the Florida Center for Cybersecurity which contains countless CTF challenges. We will have the assistance of the Whitehatters Computer Security Club (WCSC) who regularly compete in similar events.
