"Staying Secure in a Cyber World" Event held on November 4 in SLO!

The cybersecurity Girl Scout event, "Staying Secure in a Cyber World", was held on November 4 at Caly Poly in SLO, and was a huge success!

Sixty-four Girl Scouts from Monterey to Ventura participated in the event and learned about cybersecurity, digital forensics, and internet safety. We had a terrific team of Cal Poly faculty who compiled the curriculum for the activities and the girls were actively engaged throughout the event.

 
"Staying Secure in a Cyber World" helped girls learn about ‘the cyber age’ as it relates to smart phones, computers and the web, including internet safety and protecting private information. The event also gave girls a taste of cybersecurity careers and the skills they will need in order to navigate an increasingly tech-driven world.

The workshop provided girls with hands-on education on internet safety and informed them about protecting their identities online. Participants earned a patch upon completion of the program.

The event was held with the support of South Central Coast Regional Consortium and Paula Hodge, Deputy Sector Navigator for Information and Communication Technologies & Digital Media. Thank you also to Sangita Mahishi from Cisco and Alyssa Habing from Bugcrowd for being guest speakers and to the volunteers from the California Cyber Training Complex, White Hat, SWE, Child Development and Business.

Cybersecurity is part of today’s Girl Scout experience, providing girls throughout GSCCC’s six counties a variety of opportunities to have a foundation and inspiration to embrace science and technology while developing leadership skills. The first science-related Girl Scout badges offered in 1913 were “electrician,” “health” and “naturalist.” Today’s badges include, “computer expert,” “inventor,” “product designer” and “website designer”—all areas for girls to investigate and explore in the age of technology.

There will be 18 new cybersecurity Girl Scout badges available to Girl Scouts starting in September 2018. The badges will be available to troops across the country.

We hope that girls will continue to seek out more information on cybersecurity and internet safety, throughout the many programs we offer! For more information on GSCCC events, visit us here.