1Nterrupt bringS Cyber Security to 70 students in worcester

This Saturday, 1NTERRUPT, will be hosting a free hands-on cyber security program for students throughout Massachusetts, ages 14-22, on the campus of Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Yesterday, I had the privilege of chatting with Marc Blackmer the founder of 1NTERRUPT, the Worcester based non-profit organization with a passionate all-volunteer team of IT and cyber security professionals and educators.  Their goal is to demystify and make cyber security education more accessible.  This is the fourth year this event will be held in Worcester, growing from 16 students in the first year to reaching full capacity of 70 students this year.  Ryan Canuel, co-founder and CEO, of Petricore Games will be the key note speaker at the event.  
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1NTERRUPT is not just another day of school, students are introduced to the concepts of cyber security through real-world challenges from the perspective a white-hat hacker.  The first part of the day will focus on ethics, web development, network security and hardware.  The second part of the day, teams will be forged where students work together in break out sessions and focus on real world problem solving.   The students will complete a treasure hunt where they will need to overcome a series of difficult technical hurdles.  It is important to remember the quote from Albert Einstein "We can not solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them".   Students will work together using offensive techniques in a simulated environment to defeat the bad guys that hacked into the network and take back control.

Want to see in more detail what the program is about?  Check out the YouTube video from the 2015 event.

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