SMA cadets receive high-tech training

Sarasota Military Academy Cyber Patriots captain Ryan Christian’s first interaction with computers came when he was 7, playing games. Since then, the sophomore’s interests have expanded to include the interworking of the Internet.

“I’ve always been interested in how things work,” he said. “Not only do I know how to use the Internet, I know how the Internet works.”

Christian is one of 35 cadets at SMA who participate in Cyber Patriots, a team that competes at events designed to teach middle and high school students how to strengthen cyber security.
 

Cyber Patriots is a national youth education program and competition created by the Air Force Association to encourage students to become more engaged in STEM (science, technology engineering and mathematics) fields in school and consider careers in cyber security.

Christian compares what Cyber Patriots do to using a front door lock to a home: You know how to lock your door. But do you know how the lock works? Do you know how to make it stronger?

Although asking the same questions of the Internet yields more complex answers, cadets apply the same concepts to Cyber Patriots training and competitions.

During competitions, teams of five cadets with one alternate are given a scenario or virtual image of an operating system. They’re tasked with finding vulnerabilities and earn a point for each one they find. The first scored round for the competition will take place Nov. 13. But this Friday, the team will have an unscored round to prepare. They will have six hours to solve the scenario.

Teams in the state and region compete against one another. The top teams travel to Baltimore for the National Finals Competition, where they can win national recognition and scholarships.

Six of the team’s members are girls. Among them is former captain Kylee Eubanks. The junior hopes to transition the skills she learned through Cyber Patriots to a career in computer science or network security. She even started an all-girls team her freshman year.

“I try to encourage more [girls] to come,” Eubanks said. “It’s something that girls are generally not encouraged to do.”

Like athletic teams, the Cyber Patriots have a coach: SMA instructor Frederick Farmer, who leads cadets through

real-world scenarios. Students learn about ethics, including how to use their tools and not abuse them.
“Quite frankly, we get to access a lot of the tools that the bad guys have,” Farmer said. “When you’re giving people powerful tools, they need to understand what they’re getting.”

Now in his fourth year as coach, Farmer has seen students graduate with certifications that have led them to careers everywhere from IT departments to the military.

“We’re getting away from infantry and going into cyber,” Farmer said. “We have huge wars going on right now based on countries stealing our industrial secrets and using it to develop products.”