Education Initiative Spotlight: CSAW Summer Program for Women

Dan Guido
education, sponsorships

At Trail of Bits we are proud of our roots in academia and research, and we believe it is important to promote cyber security education for students of every academic level. We recently sponsored a High School Capture the Flag (CTF) event, we released a CTF Field Guide, and we are a regular part of Cyber Security Awareness Week (CSAW) at NYU-Poly.

CSAW Summer Program for High School Women

Recent graduates of the CSAW Summer Program for High School Women

As part our ongoing collaboration with NYU-Poly, Trail of Bits is proud to be a part of the CSAW Program for High School Women. This program is a unique opportunity for teenage women from the New York City area to learn the fundamentals of computer science and cyber security. Qualifying young women from local high schools participate in two weeks of lecture and hands-on training breaking codes, hacking databases, and unraveling a digital forensics mystery.

“The Introduction to Computer Science and Cyber Security Summer Program aims to introduce young women to computer science in a safe and encouraging learning environment. Exposing young women to female role models and mentors in computer science allows the women to view the field as a viable career option.” – Summer of STEM

The CSAW Program for High School Women is led by Linda Sellie, an Industry Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at NYU-Poly. The complete program covers a variety of topics in computer science, including cryptography, databases, basics of computation, networking, and more. Trail of Bits’ Dan Guido, along with NYU-Poly Computer Science and Engineering Department Head, Nasir Memon, taught an overview of computers and career opportunities in the field of cyber security. Following this course module, students engaged the first level of Matasano’s MicroCorruption challenge to further explore low-level software security issues. Graduates of the program are prepared to compete in other challenges, such as CSAW’s High School Forensics and Capture the Flag competitions this fall.

The first summer program ran from July 7-18 and a second session begins today and will run through August 8th. For more information about the CSAW Summer Program for High School Women, see the press release from the NYU Engineering department.