Hearing impaired students are at UAH for a cybersecurity camp this week.
The GenCyber camp teaches students about topics like internet safety and coding. It’s fully funded by the National Security Administration.
Jesse Hariston is the assistant director of UAH’s Center for Cybersecurity Research and Education. He said cybersecurity is an accessible field for the disabled.
“Really, our goal is to find one interest for every student that they can really latch onto. That way, if they want to pursue a career in cybersecurity, it gives them maybe a niche that they can connect to,” he said.
Hariston said campers are learning about topics like internet safety and coding.
“Really, for our deaf and hard of hearing camp, the only barrier is communication," he said. "A lot of cybersecurity tools that are out there, many of them do need to be improved to become more accessible, but the field itself and the concept of cybersecurity is not a barrier of entry to the students at all.”
UAH is also offering cybersecurity camps for visually impaired students. Hariston also said many of the campers make use of assistive technologies like screen readers, magnifiers, and braille devices to learn cybersecurity.
The FBI is leading an interactive case scenario at the camp. They will discuss cybersecurity careers and demonstrates the use of real-world tools for digital forensics.
