As cyber threats evolve, local students explore careers protecting others online

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) - Zaire Smith is comfortable with computers. Now, the Linn-Mar High School senior is exploring how those skills could help protect others as technology changes and new cyber threats emerge.

Smith attended the Youth Cyber Summit at Kirkwood Community College on Tuesday through a computer class. He said the field’s earning potential and its connection to his interests have him considering a cybersecurity career.

“Also it’s a lot of online stuff which is very easy for me to do because I am very into the online stuff. I’m very computer-savvy,” Smith said.

Students from more than 20 schools participated in the event at Kirkwood’s Cedar Rapids campus, meeting industry professionals and practicing how to respond to cybersecurity threats.

Kirkwood served as a regional satellite location for the statewide summit, hosted by the Iowa Cyber Hub and Iowa State University.

During a cybersecurity incident management exercise, students worked in teams, assumed professional roles and developed strategies to respond to simulated threats.

For Dan Tuuri, a cyber risk consultant at True North Co., those exercises introduce students to a profession that requires constant learning.

“One of the things that gets me most fired up cyber security is that it’s always new; it’s always evolving, it’s always a puzzle,” Tuuri said.

Solving that puzzle involves connecting clues, understanding what happened and finding ways to keep it from happening again.

“You take a little piece of this and a little piece of this and you figure out what that story is that makes them connect,” Tuuri said. “Then hopefully you’re able to identify what it is that you can do to prevent it from occurring again, or to prevent it from happening in the first place.”

Asked what that puzzle looks like now, Tuuri pointed to threats on a global scale.

“The biggest things that I’m watching from a cyber security perspective is of course nation threat actors. There’s always entities looking to disrupt and disturb,” he said.

But protecting information also comes down to everyday habits, Tuuri said, including changing passwords, locking devices and contacting an IT department when something seems wrong.

He said there is demand for cybersecurity workers, including those who focus on governance, risk and compliance — developing policies and procedures and verifying that systems are secure.

According to him, students interested in the field need curiosity and a willingness to adapt.

“I think the biggest success factor in an IT career is just to be curious, just to be nimble, be adaptive, be ready to roll with the flow,” Tuuri said.

“Definitely a little worried when it comes to the future because of how AI works. It just brute forces a lot of stuff and it ends up working,” Smith said.

He also sees potential for the technology to help cybersecurity professionals respond.

“AI can help eliminate a lot of threats within minutes,” he said.

Kirkwood students enrolled in its Cybersecurity and Compliance program also participated as peer mentors, sharing their experiences with high school students considering similar paths.