In the job market of today and especially tomorrow, there’s one thing for sure: Cybersecurity, no matter what the area or the specialization is, will be in extremely hot demand. This is because the cyberthreat landscape is changing so rapidly. There are new attacks and variants coming out literally every day.
It takes a skilled IT professional to keep up with all of this and to offer suggestions and solutions as to how all of this can be handled. But it takes a very unique skill set and mindset in order to do these kinds of tasks.
Candidates wanting to get into the cybersecurity field should have some sort of technological background, such as (at the very minimum) either an Associate’s or Bachelor of Science Degree in computer science or some other closely-related field. The reason for this is that the tools being used to combat cyberattacks are becoming much more sophisticated themselves.
The cybersecurity specialist must be able to work in a team and collaborate with the other members. The key takeaway here is that these skill sets can’t be taught by attending a bootcamp or even attending college. They must be acquired at an early age, and this process takes an entire lifetime.
This means there is now a huge effort underway in the cybersecurity industry to get children interested in learning about technology. If they are interested in tech at an early age, they are more likely to consider a career in cybersecurity after they complete high school or college.
As you can see, there is a shortage of almost 350,000 skilled professionals, and this number is only expected to increase. Furthermore, the number of well-trained cybersecurity workers is low.
In a way, this is a cycle that feeds itself. Because of this severe shortage, businesses and corporations are scrambling to find skilled workers and a lot of time is spent on the recruitment of individuals who may be only partially qualified. This means more time is spent on training these new employees in latest tools and threats. And because of the efforts of ongoing training, the existing IT security staff simply can’t keep up with their increasing workloads.
This brings us to the most important issue: The importance of introducing kids to the principles and concepts of cybersecurity at all grade levels, kindergarten through twelfth grade.
The key idea here is that these children and even teenagers not only have to be interested in learning about cybersecurity but have to maintain and grow this interest in the years ahead. Maintaining and growing this interest could lead them into a profitable career which is in high demand.
Receive online training on a regular basis: There are many online trainers and educators available for all levels of interest in cybersecurity topics. Take advantage of the Internet’s resources!
It is very important that you as an educator spend the necessary time to fully understand what cybersecurity is about. After all, kids are very impressionable, and the first impression that they get from you should be a positive one in order to catch their interest.
The question often gets asked: What’s the best age to start teaching a kid about cybersecurity? There’s no hard-and-fast rule to this, but obviously, the earlier the better. In fact, even introducing kids to this at the first-grade level is not considered to be too early. In today’s hyper-connected culture, cybersecurity knowledge isn’t just a gateway to a potential career — it’s a necessary part of keeping them safe in their everyday lives! But the key thing to remember is that they must be not only engaged but understand what you are trying to teach them.
Traditional teaching methods like the blackboard are disappearing fast. Technology must be integrated into any form of curriculum, and cybersecurity is no exception: Kids need to see firsthand what a cyberattack can do and the damages that can result from it. For grades 1–8, the concept of the SAMR Methodology can be used to stimulate these young minds.
It is obviously expected that they will not be computer programmers in this specific age bracket but teaching them the fundamentals of computing may spark their interest about cybersecurity.
Create competition teams: This is one of the best ways to challenge the minds of high school kids. Teens can assemble teams for competitions such as hacking and penetration testing, some of which offer valuable prizes. An important point to remember here is that all of this this should be kept to a level that is fun to them: if a team loses, some of the kids may not want anything more to do with cybersecurity. It’s important to prepare them for that possibility and encourage them to keep trying!
We’ve looked at some of the ways in which kids, especially those in K-8, can be motivated to possibly pursue a career in cybersecurity. Being a successful Cybersecurity professional requires a unique blend of skills, which may be acquired over a long period of time. It’s very important that kids start learning about cybersecurity at an early age — for their own safety, whatever career they take up!
While kids should be educated about cybersecurity, the same goes for the educators that are training them. After all, kids are very impressionable; educators have to put their best foot forward when teaching their very young students about cybersecurity. Educators do not need to go through an exhaustive and expensive training program, though, as there are plenty of free online resources.
Kindergarten to eighth grade can be thought of as the years where kids learn the fundamentals of cybersecurity, with the high school years as the time for the advanced concepts. The best way to motivate kids in the upper grades is through active group participation, such as summer training camps and various sorts of competitions. Finally, all of this experience can be capped by completing an internship by grade 12, if not earlier.
Finally, a note: There is no perfect standard for teaching and motivating kids with regards to cybersecurity. Everybody learns at their own pace. Educators should take as many different approaches as possible to see and determine what works best for their students in order to ignite that spark of interest in cybersecurity.