Georgia leads nation in CyberStart efforts

With almost 6,400 high school students competing in the CyberStart America game, Georgia led the nation in participants.

The University of North Georgia's (UNG) Institute for Cyber Operations and College of Education hosted a ceremony May 21 to celebrate the 80 students and 11 schools who were selected as Georgia winners for CyberStart America.

UNG, the Georgia Cyber Center at Augusta University, Georgia Tech Research Institute, and the Georgia Department of Education created a CyberStart America in Georgia Taskforce to promote CyberStart within the state and provide $100,000 in cash prizes to Georgia students, teachers, and schools.

CyberStart America in Georgia enabled all students in the state's 800-plus high schools to discover their talent in cybersecurity in a free game.

There were 6,383 registered students from 274 Georgia schools among the 45,962 students nationwide competing in the game cycle that ran from October 27 to April 27.

Cash prizes of $500 were awarded to the top 20 high school students in Georgia based on points earned on the CyberStart platform over the six-month period. Additional $500 prizes are available to the top six performers in each of the 10 school districts with the most students registered. In addition to these 80 winners, 15 received funds from an Addressing Cyber Career Equity for Student Success grant.

The 10 districts with the most student competitors also received incentives ranging between $5,000 and $10,000 to boost their cyber education efforts.

Buford High School received a $10,000 prize for being the top school in addition to the $5,000 Cyber Opportunity School prize, for a total of $15,000, Dr. Lindsay Linsky, co-leader of the CyberStart Georgia Task Force and UNG associate professor of middle grades education, said.

Students who scored at least 20,000 points in the game are eligible to participate in the National Cyber Scholarship Foundation competition for high school students and earn matching scholarships from local donors. Teachers had access to webinars and resources to help them introduce the program.

The CyberStart game is flexible and could be implemented in schools numerous ways: after-school or lunchtime club; pathway program; in-class or homework assignment; extra credit; introductory cyber class; or an in-class activity for students who had already finished their other assignments.

Cybersecurity threats from all around the world are a critical issue for the state and country. Those interested in the field can find successful careers protecting personal data and the operations of organizations like hospitals, schools, corporations, and government agencies, with cybersecurity jobs in nearly every industry. Critical skills are also needed by military and intelligence agencies helping to shape the future of cyber conflict and defense. Currently, there are nearly 600,000 cyber job openings nationally, with almost 22,000 of them in Georgia.  

"It was exciting and encouraging to work with students and teachers across the state, as well as with our partners, to get high school students excited about working in cybersecurity. We introduced almost 6,400 students to the fun, gamified CyberStart America platform and to the huge opportunities for careers in cyber, making Georgia a model for other states to follow," Dr. Bryson Payne, professor of computer science and coordinator of student cybersecurity programs at UNG, said.