Cybersecurity has become a major concern for businesses, hospitals, and even school districts. This week, a group of high school students are getting lessons in online safety at the University of San Diego's annual CyberPrep summer camp.
Twenty-two students from across San Diego County are on campus, learning a curriculum that includes everything from protecting passwords and bank accounts, to creating programs to protect their families from personal cyberattacks at home.
Johnathan Yarkoni, 17, is one of the campers.
“I’m not interested in giving out any more of my personal information to data brokers than I absolutely need to. But there’s only so much you can do before going full paranoid and losing internet functionality," Yarkoni said. He will be a senior this fall at Jacobs High Tech High in Point Loma. He also wants to be a mechanical engineer someday.
"The field of cybersecurity is so wide open. There are jobs that are just not being filled fast enough," said Mark Castellano, the USD manager of cybersecurity and engagement.
Castellano helped coordinate the experts and curriculum for this week's camp. Tuition is $525 with some students receiving scholarships to attend.
This is a family affair for Alexus Arias, 17, an incoming senior at the Launch Virtual Academy. She has an older brother who is a cybersecurity director with the popular TikTok app. She hopes to use what she learns at USD to help her father stay safe.
"He doesn’t know that sometimes when you go on a website, it automatically opens another website and ads that will try to download stuff," Arias said.
The camp continues through Saturday.
