Iowa's High School Cyber Defense Competition

[Farelf]

Along the lines of the network news "good news" segments (do they still have them?) TEENS FIGHT OFF HACKERS They weathered the worst that hackers could throw at them, and still kept their computer network running strong. Fueled by pizzas and pop, 19 teams of high-school students pulled an all-nighter over the weekend, during a computer security competition aimed at rewarding kids for being the good guys rather than the bad guys.

A nice change from the doom and gloom. Hmmm... pizzas and pop? Ah well, you're only young twice.

[Merlyn]

Great article

[Farelf]

Great article

Yes, quite gave me an unaccustomed sense of hope, hence the Teach them well subtitle

I believe that children are our future

Teach them well and let them lead the way

Show them all the beauty they possess inside

Give them a sense of pride to make it easier

Let the children's laughter remind us how we used to be

[rconner]

TEENS FIGHT OFF HACKERS

Great story. Reminds me of the competition they used to hold (still do?) here in D.C. in front of the Capitol; a car company (Chrysler?) contributed a bunch of identical cars, each having the same carefully planted problem (as opposed to the randomly-planted ones that Detroit used to provide on every model). Young mechanics were turned loose on the cars, and the one who found and fixed the problem first was the winner.

A lot of young folks are very curious and bright, and want to learn to hack. Best to take them in hand and show them how it can be used constructively (and profitably for themselves).

-- rick