January 26, 2023

Cybersecurity Awareness Day

For Middle School and High School Students
Date:

January 26, 2023

Time:

10:00 am - 2:00 pm

Locations:

Harrisburg University of Science and Technology
Lancaster Chamber of Commerce

Through funding from a Catalyze Ignite grant, NuPaths, Harrisburg University, and the Central PA Cybersecurity Earn-and-Learn Ecosystem are focused on helping young people access career pathways in cybersecurity and information technology. Cybersecurity Awareness Day is the inaugural event set for January 26, 2023, from 10 am to 2 pm during International Data Privacy Week. The event aims to provide middle and high school students with information about online safety, the latest security technologies, and cybersecurity careers. Students will be able to participate in breakout sessions that will be hosted live and simulcast in 2 locations across Southcentral Pennsylvania: 

  1. Harrisburg University
    326 Market St., Harrisburg
  2. Lancaster Chamber of Commerce
    115 E. King St., Lancaster

SESSION TOPICS

PERSONAL CYBERSECURITY
Learn how to keep yourself safe online. Protect your online accounts & passwords.

CYBERSECURITY CAREERS
Hear from regional and statewide employers about career options. Discover the skills you will need for a cybersecurity career. Learn about upcoming opportunities for cybersecurity career exploration and training.

TECHNICAL KNOW-HOW
Learn about tools that can help safeguard your personal info. Hear about the newest and latest technology tools being used in cybersecurity.

REGISTER YOUR SCHOOL

Registration Is Now Closed

IMPORTANT LINKS

Event Schedule

Our Speakers

Parking & Directions

Schedule
Time
Track
Activity
Location
10:15 AM – 10:25 AM
Welcome Greeting

Welcome Greetings Presented By:

John Friend, Vice President for Admissions & Secondary Schools at Harrisburg University

Andy Petroski, President at NuPaths

Jesse McCree, CEO at SCPa Works (presenting virtually)

All Locations
10:30 AM – 11 AM
Personal Cybersecurity

Deep Dive into Email Security

Discover ways to help you identify email scams (phishing), so you don't fall victim to bad actors. Cybersecurity may seem like a complex subject, but ultimately, it’s really all about people so "think before you click".

Presenter: Michael Platt, System Security Analyst at Harrisburg University

View Recorded Presentation

View PDF Presentation

 

Breakout 1 (Harrisburg University) 
10:30 AM – 11 AM  
Cybersecurity Careers

Pathways to Cybersecurity

Learn about a typical day in the life of a Lead Security Operations Center Analyst, including types of cyberattacks and the difference between the red and blue teams. Finally, discover different career paths.

Presenter: Curtis McPherson, Lead Security Operations Center Analyst at Appalachia Technologies, LLC

View Recorded Presentation

View PDF Presentation

Breakout 2 (Lancaster Chamber of Commerce)
10:30 AM – 11 AM
Cybersecurity Careers

Why the Good Guys Need to Think Like Bad Guys

How do cybersecurity professionals keep organizations and their assets secure? By learning the bad guys’ tricks of the trade. If you never check the locks on your home’s doors and windows, can you be sure that they’re adequately securing you and your family? To successfully mitigate vulnerabilities and defend against malicious threat actors, information security defenders must understand the tactics, techniques, and procedures that they use. In this session, we will discuss basic cybersecurity concepts and review commonly available security tools. We will discuss vulnerability scanning and penetration testing. Once empowered with this new knowledge we will also discuss the important ethical concerns of these tools. Ethical hackers must use their abilities for good and not evil.

Presenter:
Ryan Vandenberg, Board Member, Information Technology Committee at GateHouse

View Recorded Presentation

View PDF Presentation

Breakout 3 (Lancaster Chamber of Commerce)
11:10 AM – 11:40 AM
Cybersecurity Careers

So You Want a Career in Cybersecurity?

Learn the most common career pathways within cybersecurity such as physical security, security operations center analyst, risk and compliance, penetration tester, application security, and security awareness training. We will discuss a “Day in the Life” for these positions as well as qualifications. At the end of the session, participants should have a baseline understanding of how these roles support the cybersecurity ecosystem at any organization in both the public and private sectors.

Presenter: Jessica Hoffman, Audit and Compliance Manager at Provincia Government Solutions

View Recorded Presentation

View PDF Presentation

Breakout 1 (Harrisburg University) 
11:10 AM – 11:40 AM
Cybersecurity Careers

Careers in CyberSecurity

Explore what it takes to get into cybersecurity and what jobs you can reasonably expect.

Presenter:
Deborah Moses Elton, CEO at VerisVisalign

View Recorded Presentation

View PDF Presentation

Breakout 2 (Lancaster Chamber of Commerce) 
11:10 AM – 11:40 AM
Cybersecurity Careers

An Introduction to Apprenticeships Through the Lens of Experiential Learning

Discover information related to the fundamentals of an apprenticeship, showing the benefits of choosing this experiential learning path. Attendees will be given a brief overview of the role of the apprentice, employer, and provider of related training instruction, then introduced to apprenticeships in IT and cybersecurity. The career development process will also be introduced, focusing on continued growth through apprenticeships and professional development experiences.

Presenters: A.J. Merlino, Associate Vice President at Harrisburg University and the Office of Career Services & Experiential Learning at Harrisburg University

View Recorded Presentation

View PDF Presentation

Breakout 3 (Harrisburg University) 
11:40 AM - 12:20 PM
Lunch provided

Catered Lunch

Catered Lunch
12:30 PM – 1 PM
Personal Cybersecurity

How Can I tell If I Am Secure Online?

It can be difficult to know when you are secure when using your favorite app or accessing a website via a browser. Apps and web pages don't want to remind you that there are many security threats out there and that it is up to the end user to know about them and take steps to stay secure. What are some things I can do right away to tell if an app or web page might be insecure?

Presenter:
Don O'Hara, Software Developer at Harrisburg University

View Recorded Presentation

View PDF Presentation

Breakout 1 (Harrisburg University)
12:30 PM – 1 PM
Personal Cybersecurity

Protecting Your Virtual Life

The 21st century has provided a new frontier for the Wild West. The internet, cloud, and social media, as well as an always-connected society, have created an environment where protecting your virtual life has become more difficult than protecting your physical self. We will explore the numerous ways individuals can be exploited and various safeguards that can be put in place to prevent this exploitation.

Presenter:
Scott Lenker, Manager of Security Operations, Pennsylvania State Employees Credit Union (PSECU)

View PDF Presentation

Breakout 2 (Harrisburg University)
12:30 PM – 1 PM
Cybersecurity Careers

Cybersecurity Careers – Career Options, Paths, and Preparations for Future Success

While “Hacker” and “Defender” are natural impressions of cybersecurity careers, there are many cybersecurity career options. Some can be very deep into technical details; others may call for more interaction with humans than machines. There are also more ways to start a cybersecurity career than beginning with a traditional college IT or cybersecurity degree program. With this session, you will gain insights from Ross' experience that may help you see how you can plug into a cybersecurity career and make it a success.

Presenter:
Jim Ross, VP of Information Security Manager at Fulton Bank

View PDF Presentation

Breakout 3 (Lancaster Chamber of Commerce)
1:10 PM – 1:40 PM
Personal Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity Awareness

Discover and discuss the importance of cybersecurity awareness including the common terminologies and features. We will also discuss methods that students can use to stay safe within the cyber environment and how they can protect their online presence.

Presenters:
Hamisha Patel, Advisory Senior Consultant at Deloitte & Touche LLP

Naveen Bhimasenachar, Advisory Manager at Deloitte & Touche LLP

View Recorded Presentation

View PDf Presentation

 

Breakout 1 (Harrisburg University)
1:10 PM – 1:40 PM
Technical Know-How

Tech Know-how

We see many things going on with Cyber Security in the news and around the world and while that seems outside of our day-to-day, security starts with us as individuals! We’ll take a brief look at understanding how security events can trickle down to us as individuals and then take a deeper dive into two or three technologies we use almost daily. Once we understand those concepts, we can begin integrating tools for additional security into our everyday lives.

Presenter
Tim Ellison, Systems Architect, Sales at Cisco Networking Academy

View Recorded Presentation

View PDF Presentation

Breakout 2 (Harrisburg University) 
1:10 PM – 1:40 PM
Personal Cybersecurity

The Importance of Digital identity, and How to Keep Yours Protected

Dive into the modern world of digital identity, where it is going, and why understanding cybersecurity is and will continue to be so important to daily life.

Presenter:
Zachery Italian, President at Village Helpdesk

View PDF Presentation

Breakout 3 (Lancaster Chamber of Commerce) 
1:45 PM – 2 PM
Closing Remarks & Next Steps

Closing Remarks & Next Steps

Presented by:

Andy Petroski, President at NuPaths

Anna Ramos, Executive Director at Lancaster County Workforce Development Board (presenting at Lancaster Chamber of Commerce)

View Recorded Presentation

All Locations
Meet Our Speakers
Curtis McPherson
Lead Security Operations Center Analyst
at
Appalachia Technologies, LLC
At the age of 39, Curtis successfully completed a career transition from retail business management/operations to now being a cyber-security analyst who is working towards becoming a cyber-security engineer. He worked in the management field for 20 years. After being laid off he enrolled at Penn State University in their cyber-security bachelor's degree program. He graduated cum laude in 2021 and hold multiple certifications in the cyber-security industry, as well as an associate's degree in psychology from Harrisburg Area Community College. Currently, he leads a team of SOC analysts in monitoring client networks, incident response, and security planning.
Michael Platt
System Security Analyst
at
Harrisburg University
Michael Platt currently is a Systems Security Analyst at Harrisburg University. His role is to proactively enforce data integrity, and security policies and remediate threats. He also provides network and software support as needed.
Jessica Hoffman
Audit and Compliance Manager
at
Provincia Government Solutions
Jessica Hoffman is a Certified Information System Security Professional (CISSP) with over 15 years of information technology and cybersecurity experience in the government and private sectors. The majority of those years were at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Jessica received her BS in Computer Information Systems (CIS) and MS in Instructional Technology from Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania. Currently, Jessica is the Vice President and Audit & Compliance Manager for the small business, minority-owned professional services firm, Provincia Government Solutions. Jessica has dedicated her career to the safety, privacy of millions of Americans’ Personally Identifiable Information (PII), Protected Healthcare Information (PHI), and Federal Tax Information (FTI).
Jesse McCree
CEO
at
SCPa Works
Jesse McCree is a dedicated and accomplished leader working at the intersection of the future of work and learning. He has more than a decade of experience in workforce development, economic policy, and higher education strategy across the country. He is currently the CEO of SCPa Works, one of the largest workforce development boards in the mid-Atlantic region, including managing, investing, evaluating, and advancing more than $100M in state, federal and private dollars in workforce development programs that drive economic growth. Jesse has a Master’s in Public Administration (MPA) from Cornell University and Executive Education certificates from Harvard Kennedy and Business schools. He serves on numerous boards of national and statewide organizations, such as the U.S. Conference of Mayors Workforce Development Council and the PA Workforce Development Association.
A.J. Merlino
Associate Vice President
at
Harrisburg University
A.J. Merlino is a five-time GRAMMY-nominated music educator with a passion for cultivating creativity and innovation in higher education. His background in the arts as a performer and large-scale project manager helps inform decisions as a business strategist, bringing a unique perspective to the educational landscape. Merlino’s experience collaborating with campus leadership and community partners has successfully increased students’ educational programming and learning opportunities while positively impacting student enrollment, matriculation, retention, and outcomes through career-level engagement. In his current work, Merlino builds partnerships between industry and education to improve students’ postgraduate outcomes to help close the workforce skills gap.
Anna Ramos
Executive Director
at
Lancaster County Workforce Development Board
Anna Ramos has been with the Lancaster County Workforce Development Board for 3.5 years, and has served as the Strategic Initiatives Manager and Chief Operation Officer roles, but most recently promoted as the Executive Director/EO Officer. Prior to that, Anna was the Business Initiatives Director with the Lancaster Chamber for 3 years. Anna has over 20+ years of workforce development experience from her role as the Site Administrator at the PA CareerLink, working with job seekers for 15 years, combined with her work at the Lancaster Chamber and now with Workforce Development Board in developing relationships with the business community in addressing their workforce needs and creating the pipeline to meet those needs. Anna is involved with several local workforce committees within the county, and plays a lead role in the Career Ready Lancaster! initiative, and serves as a Board Trustee for Community Action Partnership.
Scott Lenker
Manager of Security Operations
at
Pennsylvania State Employees Credit Union (PSECU)
Scott Lenker is the Manager of PSECU's Security Operations department. He has been active in the Information Technology field for over 35 years in both the Financial, Healthcare, and Insurance sectors. He currently holds certifications as both a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) and Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH), as well as a degree from Penn State University in Electrical Engineering. Outside of work, Scott is active in his local community through his affiliations with the Scouts, Church, and other local organizations.
Zachery Italian
President
at
Village Helpdesk
Mr. Italian is an Operations professional; Heavily focused on Information Technology, Cybersecurity, Customer Success, Digital Publication, and Equality in Personal and Professional spaces.
Andy Petroski
President
at
NuPaths
Andy has played a foundational and key role in building curriculum, immersive learning and instructional technology functions for multimedia firms, corporations, and education for 20 years. Andy co-founded NuPaths with Pankaj Agarwal and Harrisburg University in 2018. As Chief Learning Officer (CLO) from 2018-2021, he was instrumental in building the program framework, designing the student experience, creating partnerships and building the foundational operations of the company. As President he leads the business development, marketing, admissions, career services, and business operations areas of company.
Jim Ross
VP, Information Security Manager
at
Fulton Bank
Jim Ross leads the Cybersecurity Analyst role at Fulton Bank. His IT career began while he was studying Computer Science at Millersville University. Since then, over his 22-plus years, he has held cybersecurity-related positions in five organizations, primarily in the financial services industry, and has professional certifications through the SANS/GIAC organization. Outside of his work, he enjoys spending time with his family and enjoying his outdoor activities.
Don O'Hara
Software Developer
at
Harrisburg University
Don is a Software Developer with over 30 years experience creating applications across all platforms types and sizes, from mainframes to single-page web applications. He has worked on a variety of business application types, from insurance, to customer service, to life sciences. He also is a Corporate Faculty member teaching computer science at Harrisburg University. He is currently working developing applications for epidemiological analytical studies.
Ryan Vandenberg
Board Member, Information Technology Committee
at
GateHouse
Ryan Vandenberg is a life-long technologist who has held roles including full-stack software engineer, software development manager and Chief Security Officer. Ryan has helped launch and support several local companies through the Aspire Ventures technology incubator and Smart Health Innovation Lab accelerator. He is a co-founder of Wylei, a cloud-based machine learning venture providing real time content personalization. He is a co-author of published scientific research leveraging Aspire Venture’s proprietary machine learning to predict blood glucose levels in diabetic patients. Ryan has helped manage and secure cloud infrastructure for multiple healthcare start-ups -- including MedStatix, a patient-satisfaction platform recording over 17 million patient surveys. Ryan is a Millersville University Computer Science alumni.
Hamisha Patel
Advisory Senior Consultant
at
Deloitte & Touche LLP
Hamisha Patel is an Advisory Senior Consultant at Deloitte & Touche LLP in the Cyber Risk and Security Practice. She has over 5 years of implementing security strategies and tools to state and local clients and is a native of Central Pennsylvania. Her security work includes implementing Single Sign On, Identity and Access Management, Risk Based Multi-factor Authentication and assisting with Security Vulnerability Testing and Disaster Recovery strategies.
Naveen Bhimasenachar
Advisory Manager
at
Deloitte & Touche LLP
Naveen is an Advisory Manager at Deloitte in the Cyberrisk practice. He has over 20 years of experience in designing, deployment and management of information technology solution in utility industry. His specialization includes designing and implementing Identity and Access Management (IAM) solutions & Single Sign On (SSO) with multi factor authentication. He has demonstrated deep experience in leading the teams to successfully design, implement and manage daily operations of complex IAM integrations involving multiple applications, Digital Identity Management, Privileged Access Management (PAM) and access certifications. He is Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP).
Tim Ellison
Systems Architect, Sales
at
Cisco Networking Academy
Tim Ellison has been working in the technology field for the past 24 years. He started out in Education Technology supporting the technology needs of multiple school districts surrounding the Harrisburg area. From there, he’s been in private consulting, security sales, and for the past 4 years, a Sales Architect at Cisco Systems supporting SLED in central PA. Tim loves to learn new things and in the technology field, this is a never-ending pool of opportunity. His free time is spent with his wife and family, watching his kid’s sporting events, and golfing whenever he can.
John Friend
Vice President for Admissions & Secondary Schools
at
Harrisburg University
John’s focus with the University is to expand partnerships with secondary schools and further the mission of the university. He has an extensive background in public education as a teacher, school principal, Associate Superintendent, and Superintendent. John retired from the Carlisle Area School District (CASD) where he served as Superintendent from 2009-2017. Under John’s leadership, CASD was one of the first districts in the area to offer online learning opportunities for all students, College in the High School, and college courses taught on the Carlisle High School campus for credit. Encouraging students to take college courses while still enrolled in high school provides the students with the insight of the academic rigor of college and the opportunity to decide if college is the correct career path for them upon graduation.
Parking and Directions

Harrisburg University

Bus parking:

Bus Arrival Procedures at : Harrisburg University  -  326 Market Street Harrisburg, PA 17101

School bus drop off and pick up should occur at the 4th street entrance to the University to ensure the safety of the students.

Directions to 4th street entrance;

  • Proceed east on Market Street.
  • Turn left on 5th Street.
  • Turn left on Walnut Street.
  • Turn left on 4th street.
  • The university is on the corner of 4th and Market St.

Students can be dropped off at the revolving doors and buses can then proceed to park at other locations.

Please see the additional parking options provided for a fee from Harrisburg Parking. There is a lot on City Island for a fee. Parking may occur at Harrisburg Mall, Paxton Street, for free.

Lancaster Chamber of Commerce

Bus Parking:

Bus Arrival Procedures at Lancaster Chamber of Commerce: 115 E King St, Lancaster, PA 17602

For student safety, school bus drop-off and pickup locations must be at 115 Ea King Street, in front of the entrance to the Lancaster Chamber of Commerce Building.

Buses can proceed to park at the Clipper Magazine Stadium: 650 N Prince St, Lancaster, PA 17603

Clipper Stadium parking: Buses can park at (1) staff parking (Prince and Clay St.) or (2) parking spots along Clay Street.

Regular Parking:

On-street parking is available in front of our building on both sides of East King Street. Enforcement times are Monday through Saturday from 8 AM to 6 PM. Pricing is subject to change without notice. Payment can be made in one of the following ways:

  • KIOSK
  • CASH - Use coins (nickels, dimes, and quarters) or bills ($1, $5, $10). The minimum time is ten minutes, and the maximum time is two hours. You must wait until the time expires to pay for additional time at the kiosk.
  • CREDIT/DEBIT CARDS - There is a two-hour, $3 minimum charge due to associated processing fees. You must wait until the time expires to pay for additional time at the kiosk.
  • APPS - There is a $0.35 transaction fee. Parking Authority Zone Code is 6511. APPS are PARK LANCASTER APP or PARKMOBILE APP
  • BY PHONE: Call 877.727.5281. This method uses a credit card registered through the Parkmobile app.

EAST KING STREET GARAGE

The East King Street Garage, with entrances on both East King and Mifflin Streets, is conveniently located just ½ block away at 150 East King Street (see below). The pay station is located in the lobby of the garage and payment can be made using bills as well as credit/debit cards. Details including hourly parking rates can be found at www.lancasterparkingauthority.com.

Call 877.727.5281. This method uses a credit card registered through the Parkmobile app.

Thanks To Our Partners

Catalyze Ignite Grant

The Catalyze Ignite grant will be used to design, pilot, and expand learning models that support young people in accessing economic opportunity and lifelong success. 
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