We Got Next Cyber

According to the Pew Research Center, in 2022, the U.S. gender pay gap was 82%, with women on average earning 82 cents for every dollar earned by men. The disparity intensified by race, with Black women earning 70% of men’s earnings, 65% for Hispanic women and 83% for White women. The growing demand in the technology sector presents an opportunity to bridge that gap.

Further, the 2022 (ISC)² Cybersecurity Workforce Study reports that there is a global cybersecurity workforce gap of 3.4 million people, with a gap of 436,080 people in the U.S. This is happening as cyber threats continue to grow each year, with damage from cyberattacks estimated to amount to $10.5 trillion annually by 2025—a 300% increase from 2015.

Black women comprise 14.1% of the female workforce and have historically maintained the highest level of female workforce participation since 1996, but according to a 2020 report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Black women make up only 2.5% of the STEM workforce. African Americans make up approximately 3% of the information security analysts in the United States and women less than 20%, even as the field is expected to grow 18% over the next 3 years. Although cybersecurity careers are critical to the future and offer significant income potential and opportunities for advancement, Black women have long been underrepresented in these fields due to financial barriers of certification and the paradigm that tech professions are primarily for white men. Efforts to provide exposure, training and support for Black girls and women to help them pursue and persist in STEM careers are essential to diversity and equity in the cybersecurity industry and to fill the critically dangerous workplace gap that exists.

BlackGirlsHack (BGH) Foundation was established by a Black woman in 2020 to increase representation and empower Black girls and women in the field of information security and cyber security through skills training, mentoring, resume review, interview preparation and access to free and low-cost resources in an inclusive environment. The vision of the BGH Foundation is to promote a diverse and inclusive cyber industry where Black women are represented at all levels, including technical, leadership and executive roles. We work with 60 volunteers and more than 1,000 members from across the U.S., who meet with us every week for support and training on various cybersecurity topics, including cybersecurity foundations, ethical hacking, capture the flag competitions and mainframe penetration testing. BGH is preparing the next generation of elite ethical hackers that will help to make our systems more secure and help remove the bias that exists in algorithms and data. While we do not turn anyone away from participating in our programs, 84% of our members are African American, and 79% are women, far exceeding the trends in cybersecurity and STEM, giving BGH the ability to provide the educational tools and access to the technology in the cybersecurity field to expose youth to sustainable career prospects and significantly increase the pipeline of diverse professionals in these fields.

The We Got Next Cyber program will operate as a 12-week pilot program targeting underserved 9th-12th grade girls. We are targeting Black girls and will serve any interested girls, regardless of racial background. The program will be offered for two hours, Monday-Friday during the school year, starting in October 2023. The We Got Next Cyber program will include a self- paced online curriculum facilitated through the Canvas LMS platform and is taught in coordination with the U.S. Cyber Range, a scalable cloud-based infrastructure which provides the students with virtual environments to execute hands-on cybersecurity labs and exercises, including the Protect the Pi Capture the Flag (CTF) competition. Our plan is to offer two cohorts of the program, serving 50 students per cohort for a total of 100 students.

In addition to working through each of the modules, the participants will immediately apply learned concepts through hands-on labs. The We Got Next Cyber pilot program includes between 1-10 labs for each of the modules, which increases in complexity and provides immediate applications of cybersecurity learned principles and how various technological tools are used to solve real-world problems. Students are expected to go through the self-paced resources and lessons as homework in preparation for the classes. The total curriculum is intended to provide 9th -12th grade students with technical credibility and preparation for the CompTIA Security+ Certification exam.

Students will access the lectures, modules, simulations, and cyber labs remotely, with support provided from BGH instructors as needed.

Program Modules

• Linux Basics (22 activities)
• Security Basics (52 activities)
• Actors and Vulnerabilities (34 activities)
• Malware and Attacks (81 activities)
• Organizational Security (55 activities)
• Ethical Hacking (5 activities)
• Cybersecurity (10 activities)
• Capture the Flag (CTF) (9 activities)
• Protect the Pi CTF

The Protect the Pi CTF is a hands-on program that will involve two teams of 25 students connected to Raspberry Pi computers. The Protect the Pi CTF provides the opportunity for the participants to interact with a Raspberry Pi device with Raspbian OS installed to learn how firewalls can be used to protect both networks and Internet of Things Devices. In addition to working with the Pi, participants will get experience using command line tools, an introduction to the use of firewalls, and experience installing and configuring the Pi to protect their devices. The CTF is a red vs. blue team exercise, where the red team is tasked with capturing flags on the blue team’s devices, and the blue team is tasked with protecting the flags from the red team. At the end of the event, if the blue team has kept the red team from less than five flags they win, and if the red team has obtained five or more flags, they win. This competitive real-world exercise teaches students how adversaries and security professionals counteract each other to keep data safe.

https://youtu.be/08TPKavFtsg

BlackGirlsHack (BGH) Foundation works to increase representation and empower Black girls and women in the field of information security and cyber security through skills training, mentoring, resume review, interview preparation and access to low-cost resources in an inclusive environment. The vision of the BGH Foundation is to promote a diverse and inclusive cyber industry where Black women are represented at all levels, including technical, leadership and executive roles. On this project, we are targeting Black girls in grades 9-12 to expose them to skills in cybersecurity, although we will not turn any interested girl away and will serve girls of all races.

Through our current training and support program for adults, we serve more than 1500 members across the world, with a good portion of those United States members coming from five states—Virginia, Georgia, Texas, New York and Florida. The demographics of the individuals we currently serve are as follows: 84% Black or African American, 5% White, 3% Hispanic or Latinx, 3% Asian, 0.5% American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander and 4.5% Other.

Research demonstrates that issues of race, poverty, and poor health outcomes are so interrelated that they are practically inextricable. According to the Annie E. Casey Kids Count data, in 2021, 29% of all U.S. children’s parents lack secure employment, with significant disparities by race—44% African American, 43% American Indian, 35% Hispanic or Latino, and 22% for White and Asian and Pacific Islander parents. The report also showed that median family income among households with children in the U.S. is $84,200, among with wide variations by race—$46,600 for Black or African American households, $53,900 for American Indian families, $57,800 for Hispanic or Latino households, $102,700 for White families and $124,800 for Asian and Pacific Islander households. These critical disparities severely limit opportunities available to residents, including educational quality and attainment, employment outcomes and financial health.

We are targeting girls from marginalized communities across the U.S. who wouldn’t otherwise have access to this type of training and resources. The BGH founder is a Black woman who has worked in technology/information security for more than 15 years and understands the barriers to entry and issues for retaining Black women in the field. Our team and board also consist of Black women in cybersecurity that will be leveraged to ensure that program content is relevant and up-to-date. We will also survey program participants to understand how the training has benefited them and learn what changes can be made to the program to improve the experience and impact for participants.

This program will help participants by exposing them to a new field and providing them with critical training and valuable hands-on experience to prepare them for lucrative, high demand career opportunities. We will also provide them with mentoring, interviewing skills and other support to help them enter the field.  The curriculum is intended to provide students with technical credibility and preparation for the CompTIA Security+ Certification exam, making them competitive for cybersecurity careers. 

The BlackGirlsHack (BGH) team has extensive experience in cybersecurity and technology and bring that experience to this solution. BGH has been delivering training in technology and cybersecurity for the last three years, and we have learned lessons along the way and made adjustments as needed. We have taken what we’ve learned from training adults and used that experience to develop We Got Next Cyber, which targets high school students. We also conducted a needs assessment prior to developing the program to understand what currently exists in this space and what was missing. We found that one of the key things missions is support to help participants complete the training programs and secure employment, so that is a key part of the solution. Also, we learned that even when young people are informed about cybersecurity careers, they are not told about ethical hacking as a career option, so that is incorporated into this solution. Finally, we survey participants throughout the program—beginning, middle and end—and make adjustments as needed based on their feedback.

The We Got Next Cyber program is in the prototype stage, as we have put over a year of development into the program and have built the curriculum and want to test it with high school students. We have served adults through a similar training program over the last two years and have incorporated some program elements and lessons learned from that program. We have also begun conversations with the Chief Experience and Engagement Officer for Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) in Northern Virginia about offering the We Got Next Cyber program to FCPS students in various schools in the county. Finally, we have received grant support from five funders for the program that will enable us to serve 90 students, and we hope to begin those cohorts in October 2023.     

BlackGirlsHack (BGH) Foundation was started in 2020 to address a real need to provide access to training, resources and other supports to Black women and girls to help them enter into the cybersecurity field as a way to increase diversity in the industry. Over the last year, we have developed strategic partnerships and secured funding sources to increase the reach and impact of our work. I believe that our organization is approaching a turning point that could lead to significant growth, and I want to gain this skills and support needed to ensure that the organization is growing in a smart way and that we are prepared for that growth. Learning from other leaders who have been where are or are there now would be helpful to gain lessons learned and get thoughts on how best to navigate this growth phase of our organization.

Tennisha Martin is a mentor, speaker, author, and penetration tester who has worked in a consulting capacity for over 15 years. As the founder of BlackGirlsHack, she has worked to provide hands on training in cybersecurity and IT for over three years to help increase the pipeline for employment in cybersecurity. In order to ensure that women have a successful future in cybersecurity, it is important that we provide exposure and training opportunities for younger students to help them become aware and set goals for careers in cybersecurity. To accomplish that, it is important that when students begin to establish their STEM identities that they’re aware that careers in information technology, cybersecurity and ethical hacking exist.

While reviewing potential grant opportunities for STEM programs, our grant writer identified this as a possible option for Black Girls Hack.

While the cybersecurity field is taught to young girls, ethical hacking, capture the flag and penetration testing activities are not typically taught to this group. Also, through our experiences in teaching cybersecurity and ethical hacking to adults, we have learned a lot over the last three years about the key needs that learners have and the support they need to complete the program. As a result, we have refined the way that we are teaching young girls to address their key needs and give them best chance for success.

Our impact goals over the next year include the following:

• To serve 100 girls
• To build skills in cybersecurity and ethical hacking for young girls
• To help participants secure employment in cybersecurity

Our impact goals over the next five years include the following:

• To serve 500 girls
• To increase the diversity of the cybersecurity field by producing more women who have the skills to enter and advance in the field
• To help reduce the cybersecurity workforce gap

We will achieve these goals by helping young girls complete the We Got Next Cyber program, which will help participants by exposing them to a new field and providing them with critical training and valuable hands-on experience to prepare them for lucrative, high demand career opportunities. We will also provide them with mentoring, interviewing skills and other support to help them enter the field.  The curriculum is intended to provide students with technical credibility and preparation for the CompTIA Security+ Certification exam, making them competitive for cybersecurity careers. 

Each student will be required to take an entry, middle, and exit survey about their experience. Students will also be requested to provide email updates to BGH Foundation about job or scholarship outcomes because of their training, even if they do not accept the position. BGH Foundation will send follow up annual surveys for three years to track program outcomes.

Inputs:

• Students
• Instructors
• Teacher’s Assistants
• Curriculum
• Canvas LMS
• U.S. Cyber Range platform
• Cyber.org

Activities:

• The We Got Next Cyber program teaches high school girls critical skills in cybersecurity, ethical hacking and penetration testing through training and hands-on cybersecurity labs and exercises.
• Program Modules
  • Linux Basics (22 activities)
  • Security Basics (52 activities)
  • Actors and Vulnerabilities (34 activities)
  • Malware and Attacks (81 activities)
  • Organizational Security (55 activities)
  • Ethical Hacking (5 activities)
  • Cybersecurity (10 activities)
  • Capture the Flag (CTF) (9 activities)
  • Protect the Pi CTF

Outputs:

• Train 100 participants skills in cybersecurity and ethical hacking
• Participants obtain technical credibility and preparation for the CompTIA Security+ Certification exam.

Short-Term Outcomes:

• Participants gain their CompTIA Security+ Certification and secure employment in the cybersecurity field.

Long-Term Outcomes:

• Diversity in the cybersecurity field is increased as more women have the skills to enter and advance in the field.
• Reduction in the cybersecurity workforce gap

Our solution, which is an online training program for high school girls, utilizes technology to deliver the training. We use the Canvas Learning Management System and the U.S. Cyber Range platform. Canvas enables us to deliver the training courses, exams and allows for discussion and collaboration among participants and the instructors. The U.S. Cyber Range offers a cloud-based platform for customized hands-on cybersecurity training. We will use the U.S. Cyber Range platform the hands-on labs and exercises and the Capture the Flag competitions.

1 full-time staff member

3 contractors per cohort (1 instructor and 2 teacher’s assistants)

We have been working on our solution for more than one year. We have developed the curriculum and have offered similar training programs for adults and want to test this program and its impact on youth. Our hope is that this program will provide an opportunity to increase and diversify the pipeline of Black women in cybersecurity by giving them the access, tools and support to enter and persist in the field. 

BlackGirlsHack’s commitment to increasing diversity in the cybersecurity field informs our approach to incorporating diversity, equity and inclusivity into our work. As our mission is to increase the representation of Black girls and women in cybersecurity, our team and board of directors largely consist of Black women working in STEM. Team and board members join BGH because their belief and commitment to our mission and culture and embody those values internally and externally with the individuals we serve. The BGH team is reflective of the individuals and communities we serve. Also, while our programs target Black girls and women, as we know that they have been traditionally marginalized in the STEM fields, we will not turn anyone away who is interested in our programs, and the population we serve is diverse and inclusive. The demographics of our members are as follows: 84% Black or African American, 5% White, 3% Hispanic or Latinx, 3% Asian, 0.5% American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander and 4.5% Other. At this time, BGH does not have plans to improve the diversity of our organization’s leadership and staff, as it closely reflects the communities served. That said, we will continue to strengthen the organization’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusivity.

The BlackGirlsHack (BGH) Foundation business model is a business-to-consumer (B2C), as we provide services directly to the end consumer. Our mission is to increase representation and empower Black girls and women in the field of information security and cyber security through skills training, mentoring, resume review, interview preparation and access to free and low-cost resources in an inclusive environment. The vision of the BGH Foundation is to promote a diverse and inclusive cyber industry where Black women are represented at all levels, including technical, leadership and executive roles. We work with 60 volunteers and more than 1,000 members from across the U.S., who meet with us every week for support and training on various cybersecurity topics, including cybersecurity foundations, ethical hacking, capture the flag competitions and mainframe penetration testing. BGH is preparing the next generation of elite ethical hackers that will help to make our systems more secure and help remove the bias that exists in algorithms and data. While we do not turn anyone away from participating in our programs, 84% of our members are African American, and 79% are women, far exceeding the trends in cybersecurity and STEM, giving BGH the ability to provide the educational tools and access to the technology in the cybersecurity field to expose youth to sustainable career prospects and significantly increase the pipeline of diverse professionals in these fields.

BlackGirlsHack (BGH) offers its services at no cost to participants in order to make them accessible for populations that have long been underrepresented in cybersecurity. As a result, the organization will be sustained through donations and grants. Over the last year, we have begun to build relationships with new funders, including Google and Craig Newmark Philanthropies, and we will continue to maintain those relationships. We also host 1-2 fundraising campaigns each year to solicit donations from individuals. Finally, we have secured a fundraising prospect tool that has enabled us to identify potential corporate, foundation and government supporters for our organization and programs. We will work to build relationships with those funders over the next year to increase support and build sustainability for our organization and programs.

So far, we have secured grant funding totaling $68,000 for We Got Next Cyber from several funders including the Community Foundation for Northern Virginia (Business Women’s Giving Circle), Brabson Family Foundation, Craig Newmark Philanthropies, Micron Technology and the Bradan Lane Foundation, and we continue to submit additional grant applications for support.