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Governor McAuliffe visits Portsmouth cybersecurity camp for high schoolers

Posted at 11:57 AM, Aug 02, 2016
and last updated 2016-08-02 11:57:19-04

PORTSMOUTH, Va. – Governor Terry McAuliffe visited a cybersecurity camp at I.C. Norcom High School Tuesday.

The CyberCamp program engages students in hands-on, project-driven activities focused on exposing students to the field of cybersecurity.

Students using digital forensic investigation software and work as forensic examiners to recover data.

Gov. McAuliffe told the students that Virginia experienced 53 million cyber attacks in the first half of 2016, roughly four attacks every second.

He also said, “We have 17,000 cyber jobs open in the state of Virginia alone and the starting salaries are $88,000.”

School Board Members, Portsmouth Mayor Kenneth Wright, Dr. Lydia Pettis-Patton, City Manager, Delegate Stephen Heretick and Senator L. Louise Lucas also attended.

Portsmouth Public Schools partnered with faculty of the Department of Computer Science at Norfolk State University for the camp.

The camp is funded by a Virginia Department of Education grant.