PARKVILLE, MD—Five Baltimore County high schools will partner with Cisco Systems Networking Company to host a Virtual Cisco Cybersecurity Project Symposium on Wednesday, May 5.

The participating high schools — Eastern Technical, New Town, Parkville, Sollers Point, and Western School of Technology – all offer Cisco-IT Networking completer programs.

“This is our inaugural systemwide cybersecurity symposium,” said Howard L. Jackson, Cisco Academy instructor at New Town High. “Each year, we hope to focus on a different type of cyberattack. The topic this year will be Ryuk ransomware.”

After researching Ryuk ransomware attacks, the 150 participating students – working in teams – will use the engineering design process to construct security systems that will detect, refine, and defend against future cyberattacks.

The symposium will provide opportunities for student-led teams to share knowledge, interact with experts in the field of computer and network security, and take part in simulated activities related to real-world cyberattacks that have impacted institutions, corporations, and governments.

“The increase in ransomware attacks necessitates preparing workers to address these issues,” said Jackson. “Students in secondary and post-secondary educational institutions can be a foundation for introducing, recruiting, training, and building a future workforce that protects and defends computer network systems from cyber-criminal attacks. The Cybersecurity Project Symposium will allow students to demonstrate and apply their teamwork, communications, and problem-solving skills to a realistic
problem.”

The keynote speaker at the symposium will be Joseph Muniz, an architect and security researcher at Cisco Security Sales and Engineering Organization. He has designed security solutions and architectures for Fortune 500 corporations and federal agencies. Muniz founded The Security Blogger website, a popular resource for security and product implementation, and is an author and frequent speaker at international conferences.