Sunday, October 31, 2010
By Sean Barron
VIENNA
Those who enlist in the military assume the risk of being called to fight in war and face enemies on the battlefield.
Sometimes, though, enemies can be a lot closer to home; they can be found with a few clicks of a mouse.
The adversaries eight cadets from the Youngstown Air Reserve Station’s Composite Squadron, a local unit of the Civil Air Patrol, are combating include common viruses, malware, phishing software and other malicious items that can harm personal computers and provide criminals with people’s personal information.
That was the crux of the first round of the Cyber- Patriot High School Cyber Defense competition on Oct.23 at Kent State University, in which the eight local cadets, known as “Team Hercules,” competed against 476 CAP, high school and Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps teams from across the country.
As a result of their efforts, Team Hercules advanced directly to third-round competition and will be one of 72 local and national teams to compete Dec. 4. The location has yet to be determined.
“It’s a scenario-based learning program,” Capt. Paul H. Creed III said while conducting a training session with the local cadets earlier this month at KSU’s Trumbull Campus.
During that three-hour session, the eight talked about being on the team, as well as their long-term goals and plans.
Creed, of Cortland, is an information technology officer with the reserve station’s Composite Squadron. He explained that teams were given computer images with deliberate online security issues. They were to identify the problems and fix them.
Examples of solutions included downloading security updates, installing firewall protections and adding encryption, an effective way to convert data to a secret code and make it very difficult for unauthorized people to understand.
Scores were based largely on the number of breaches and issued fixed, Creed explained.
One of the members of the local team is Cadet Chief Master Sgt. Anthony Spina, 16, of Newton Falls, who’s also team captain.
For Spina, a student at Trumbull Career & Technical Center, the competition was about more than repairing computer security problems. Being part of CAP also will increase Spina’s chances to get into the Air Force Academy, he predicted.
“The military is kind of a big thing for us,” Spina explained, noting that several generations of his family served.
Also looking at an Air Force career is 17-year-old Sr. Airman Zachary Hogue of Newton Falls, whose ambitions include studying communications and information. The TCTC student has been with CAP two months, he added.
A career in robotics engineering is on the horizon for Sr. Airman Andrew Stoneburner, a 14-year-old student at Jackson-Milton Middle School.
For now, though, the CyberPatriot competition is valuable for the Milton Township teen simply because it gives him added means to protect his computer and help friends do the same for theirs, he said.
As technology continually expands, the need for online protection becomes more urgent, said Airman First Class Jay Zaitzen, a 17-year-old Boardman High School senior.
Enrolling in the ROTC program, joining the Air Force and obtaining a career in the transportation industry loom large for Zaitzen, he said.
“My uncle was in the Air Force, and I’ve kind of always looked up to him,” Airman First Class Jessica Radcliffe, 17, of Newton Falls, said of her main reason for being part of CAP.
Radcliffe said she hopes to join an Air Force search-and-rescue team after high school, then focus on becoming a forensics scientist.
The competition likely gives 15-year-old Staff Sgt. Seth Staudacher of McDonald a leg up on his long-term goal to become a video-game designer, the teen said, adding that he’s always been interested in electronics.
An air show caused 14-year-old Sr. Airman Leo Lindauer’s desire to join the Air Force to soar. The McDonald teen, who joined CAP in September 2009, said he wants to go into the health field, but is unsure of a career choice.
Not waiting to spread his wings is Second Lt. Spencer Campbell of Howland. The 16-year-old is learning the basics of a Cessna-172 plane, he said.
“I want to transport supplies and cargo to missionaries,” Campbell said regarding his goal of being a missionary transport pilot.