Kea’au High Finalist in Cyber Program Competition

Gov. David Ige has proclaimed October Cybersecurity Awareness Month in Hawai‘i in recognition of the state’s role in identifying, protecting its citizens from, and responding to cyber threats.

The governor also marked the occasion by recognizing the state’s winners in the Girls Go CyberStart national competition, which is a fun, interactive online program composed of digital challenges aimed at introducing high school girls to cyber security and encouraging them to enter the field.

This year’s state winners are teams from Myron B. Thompson Academy, first place; St. Andrews Schools, second place; and Seabury Hall, third place. Finalists in the competition are teams from Sacred Hearts Academy, Kapolei High School and Kea‘au High School.

“I am so proud of this year’s winners and finalists for representing Hawai‘i well. The competition results are a testament to the level of talent we have in Hawai‘i. Our young women have demonstrated that they are competitive on the national level and we must continue to inspire more of Hawai‘i’s youth to explore potential careers in cyber security,” Ige said.

The State continues its work on several cyber security initiatives, such as promoting educational opportunities like Girls Go CyberStart and developing a skilled cyber workforce by working with lower and higher education community. It is also working to enhance the cyber security of critical infrastructure providers.

The state is also continuing its work in improving coordination of county, city, state and federal government cyber security activities, leveraging the Fusion Center’s role in working with private sector partners to improve their cyber security posture.

“With the increasing threat of cyberattacks, cybersecurity is everyone’s responsibility. We continuously provide State employees opportunities for cybersecurity training and have implemented best practices that safeguard our infrastructure,” said Vincent Hoang, State Chief Information Security Officer, of the Office of Enterprise Technology Services.

To learn more about the state’s cybersecurity program, visit http://ets.hawaii.gov/state-of-hawaii-cyber-security-program/.