When it comes to cyber security, the job market is growing as technology advances. Utica University is preparing students for the real world by opening a cyber range where they will receive unique training.
The cyber range opened a little over a week ago and students and faculty are still adjusting and waiting for more equipment to come. The new space will allow for students to use critical thinking through hands-on exercises.
“We have infrastructure that the students are going to be able to be hands-on with. We’re also going to have servers that the students will be able to physically operate. So if they want to install services, they want to test those services against different security protocols and that type of stuff,” said John Oevering, a professor and assistant director for the cybersecurity program at Utica University.
He said having practical knowledge and critical thinking experience is what will help students get hired in the cyber market.
“Yes, I have a skill. I can complete a task. But why does that task matter? How do I replicate that if I don’t have clear instructions of getting to the end, being able to see the entire vision, the broader vision of that. The Bureau of Labor Statistics has come out. They said for the next five years, we’re expected to see 35% growth within the field,” said Oevering.
“Instant response or forensics. It’s a very unusual way to go and to think about a computer, how you can undelete a file? I just think be able to do that would be pretty cool as a job,” said Nolan Flynn, a senior at Utica University.
For his final-year project, he created an exercise the students are working on called “capture the flag.”
“Be presented with a challenge, a little description. Maybe give you a file or something. You have to go search the internet, go through your computer and go figure out exactly where this flag is hidden,” said Flynn.
Flynn said in the real world, the critical thinking in this challenge would be similar if someone were to download something on their computer that they shouldn’t have.
“Having a space, being able to get the infrastructure that the students will have that hands-on feel, gives them that entry-level experience to identify and build on that,” said Oevering.
