Future Leaders Winner Taking Lead On Cyber Security
HIGHLANDS RANCH, Colo. (CBS4) – Every month during the school year, CBS4 and its partner PDC Energy choose a high school student who excels in science, technology, engineering or math as its Future Leaders winner. Winners get $1,000 and a profile on CBS4 News.
February's winner is Trevor Venable, a junior at STEM School Highlands Ranch. He excels in computer sciences and in particular cyber security. Venable's favorite class is Certified Ethical Hacker, where he's learning how to hack into computer networks.
"So I think the key word there is 'ethical,' as in the only difference between a white hat and a black hat hacker is ethics," Venable said.
"So you're intentionally trying to break in?" asked CBS4 Meteorologist Ashton Alteiri.
"It is offensive security, yes," Venable replied. "A company will hire you to see how secure their network is."
Offensive security is also the name of the game in Cyber Patriots, a competition designed by the Air Force Association to draw more students into the field of cyber security. Venable and his friends are part of the STEM School Highlands Ranch Cyber Patriots Club.
"For each category, except Cisco, there is 100 points to be gained by fixing security flaws," he explained.
Venable and his teammates qualified for the semi-finals two years in a row.
"Tell me about your Eagle Scout project. I'm an Eagle, so I'm always excited to meet other Eagles." Altieri said.
"It was a pretty exciting and frustrating project for me," he responded.
Venable and his friends built a four panel solar array on a shed at his church. The solar system charges a golf cart.
"They have a golf cart that goes down to their outdoor sanctuary, and since there's a lot of elderly church goers, they need that to get them out to the outdoor sanctuary," he explained.
In addition to working out the engineering of solar power, Venable had to get the project permitted and make sure it met code. While this project got him his Eagle Scout badge, it's cyber security that he's most interested in. He's hoping to make the nation's networks a little more secure.