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Local Middle School Girls Receive Hands-On Exposure to Cybersecurity

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On Wednesday November 13, 2013, The Maryland Cybersecurity Center and the National CyberWatch Center hosted the "Annual Cool Careers in Cyber Security for Girls Workshop", an event where 300 middle school girls had the opportunity to work as investigators for a day by solving a cyber crime scenario. The workshop was held at The Samuel Riggs IV Alumni Center at the University of Maryland College Park campus.

event photoDuring the event, the girls rotated through stations where they could focus on different aspects of an internet espionage crime. Each station was led by a female cybersecurity professional from the region. The professionals both engaged the girls in an interactive activity, and also spoke about what it takes to navigate the professional pipeline in the vast fields of cybersecurity, information assurance and digital forensics. "The Cool Careers in Cyber Security for Girls Workshop significantly contributes to increasing the number of women in this critical field, which is one of the core goals of the education activities led by the Maryland Cybersecurity Center", said Michel Cukier, Associate Director for Education at the Maryland Cybersecurity Center (MC2).

"...it is important to provide students with the necessary information to explore the exciting opportunities in the cyber security field."

Chandra McMahon, Vice President of Commercial Markets and Cyber Security at Lockheed Martin

Trevea Brady, Software Engineer at Lockheed Martin provided a keynote address where she discussed her educational experiences and offered advice for the girls as they pursue interests in STEM fields (science, technology, engineering and math). This event was organized by the Maryland Cybersecurity Center and the National CyberWatch Center, with support from Lockheed Martin and National Science Foundation (NSF). "As the demand for cyber security professionals continues to grow for the foreseeable future, it is important to provide students with the necessary information to explore the exciting opportunities in the cyber security field," said Chandra McMahon, Vice President of Commercial Markets and Cyber Security at Lockheed Martin.