Students exposed to challenges, opportunities in at cybersecurity camp
Students exposed to challenges, opportunities in at cybersecurity camp
Publish Date: 2026-06-26 14:11:00
Source Domain: triblive.com
Using an unordered list, summarize the following article with between 4 and 8 key points.
A heated competition Friday was waged in computer mouse clicks and brain power.
Budding cybersecurity professionals frantically checked their work from computer screens at University of Pittsburgh’s Greensburg campus, hoping to eke out the elusive final few points to get a perfect score on the last day of the Air Force Association CyberCamp.
A trio of Franklin Regional High School students were boisterous as their score nudged closer to perfect.
For them, it was almost like a sporting event.
“That’s another five points!” rising sophomore Charlie Smith exclaimed.
The popular camp was held for the first time this week at the Hempfield Township university with an inaugural class of 25 students, some from local districts, including Hempfield Area and Penn-Trafford, and a handful traveling from out of state. It is an expansion of the camp held for the past 10 years at Pitt’s Oakland campus, where 180 students participated this year.
The free, weeklong camp teaches cybersecurity principles, ethics, skills and insight on career opportunities. Campers learned how to navigate through different computer systems, identify security configurations and prevent cyber attacks.
Friday’s three-hour competition was held at both campuses simultaneously. Each team was given a scenario to address and points were accrued based on how quickly the tasks were finished, said Michael Pry, director of the cybersecurity program at the Hempfield campus.
Expanding the event into Westmoreland County through a grant from the EQT Foundation gives more students opportunities, he said.
“You want to send them to these camps, but there aren’t many offered in our area,” he said. “Now we can offer this amazing camp right here in Greensburg so people don’t have to commute into Pittsburgh to attend it.”
The high schoolers’ enthusiasm for it was evident Friday. They looked intensely at their computer screens and worked methodically, while high-fives meant an accomplishment, and points. Every so often, one of the instructors would offer up a clue to the group, which the teams would quickly put into action.
Franklin Regional student Jack Foster was more quiet about his success. Foster, who will be a sophomore this fall, was leading the way in points, though other teams were close behind.
For Mark Hill, the camp was a great stepping stone to what he hopes will be a career in digital forensics.
“I have learned a lot this week,” he said.
Hill is a rising junior attending River Valley STEAM Academy’s cybersecurity program in Indiana County, which is similar to a technical school. Pry and retired River Valley teacher Melissa Milanak were instrumental in creating the cybersecurity curriculum. Milanak was an instructor during the camp.
Hill’s team came in first place overall for both locations of the competition in the standard division along with classmates Chloe Dennison, Joseph Kukosky and Timothy Kukosky.
Milanak said the event, and curriculum, allow young people to envision a cybersecurity-related career.
“We realized that in today’s day and age, that it’s so important that we have students who are able to keep” cyber infrastructure working, she said.
Cybersecurity-related jobs are needed in every sector, Pry said, and workers will likely be in high demand for the next several years.
