Lina Young and David Pham, teachers at Lairon College Prep and retired staff member Kathy Smith had the opportunity to take 24 students from the Cyber Patriots program to San Francisco this Saturday, April 14, 2018. Students visited the tech headquarters where a cyber security related event hosted by HackerOne took place. Students had the opportunity to see professional hackers competing with each other to identify vulnerabilities in companies' systems, and the rewards were various amounts of cash prizes. Students heard first hand from professional hackers, why cyber security is important, what they can do to be safe online, and hands on activities prepared by HackerOne.
Throughout the school year, these 24 students have participated in the Cyber Patriots Program at Lairon College Prep Academy. Cyber Patriot is a National Youth Cyber Education Program and was conceived by the Air Force Association (AFA) to inspire students toward careers in cyber security or other science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines critical to our nation's future.