At RKF Solutionz Cyber-Academy we learned 4 lessons, software, hardware, security and hacking. On day 1 I learned about software, the coding inside the computer. First, I learned how to trouble shoot viruses using, I Eat Twix Every Valentine’s Day. This means, Identify the problem, establish a theory, test your theory, establish a plan of action, and document the findings. Secondly, we learned about safety, not just for our selves but also for hardware. Hardware has to be in special bags, called anti-static bags, so they are not messed up by electromagnetic interference. Another thing is that when messing with electronics, as we people we have to where an ESD (Electro-static discharge) straps and stand on an ESD mats to ground ourselves. In addition to personal safety there are 7 steps when dealing with computers. 1st you disconnect the power, then take of lose items, also make sure you’re picking up the equipment correctly, 4th be aware of weight limitations, 5th is to be prepared for electrical fires using class-c fire extinguisher, and the last two steps are to secure loose cables, where safety goggles and an airlift masks. The next things I learned the different types of Installations methods, Clean, Upgrade, Multi Boot, Repair, Image Deportment, and recovery partition. The last things we talked about was the different features on windows, Mac and Linx deceives. Some of my favorites were Side by Side, which allows you to see two tabs at the same time. Also, Metro UI, the windows 8 display. In all the First day at RFK Solutionz was great, I felt like I learned a lot about cyber.
The second day was very intriguing and made me feel like I was at school again, but with more freedom. At first, we had a guest speaker named, Doug Streit. He talked a lot about Old Dominion University and the classes within the security and cyber programs. In class that day I learned a lot about hardware, the physical parts of a computer, but specifically how the motherboard was connected. In my opinion the most important part of the Motherboard is the BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) because it is the brain and tells every component what to do. Also, the Bios is the only ROM (Read Only Memory) within a single device. All that ROM is, is memory that the system cannot change, it can only be changed manually. We also learned about CMOS, which is very small but powers the Bios and makes it remember things. Next, there is RAM (Random Access Memory) and RAM is temporary storage measured by hertz. DIMM (Dual Inline Memory Module) is basically a small version of RAM than can fit in smaller devices. Another thing I was informed about is that in the Motherboard there are two is 2 bridges, north and south. The North is memory control and the south bridge is input/output control, these bridges are both connected. Also, I was educated on what a CPU (Central Processing Unit) is and the two types, Land grid array and Pin Grid Array. Besides the Motherboard we learned two other hardware components, the hard disk drive (HDD) and solid disk drive (SDD). In my opinion I think hardware is way harder than software but I enjoy both. My second day at RFK I know I left the building more educated than I came in.
On day three at RFK solutions I learned about social engineering from our guest speaker, Commander Mills and hacking from Mr. Rimmer. I was taught that social engineering is manipulating someone into doing something rather that using technology. Mr. Mills also mentioned geotagging, which is adding a person’s location to a photo. What interesting about that is that hackers can find you from just one pictures. Mr. Rimmer taught me the different types of hackers, white hat, grey hat, and black hat. White hat hackers are good and work to protect others. Grey hat hackers try to be good but do it in an illegal way. Lastly, Black hat hackers are very harmful and hack to hurt. White hats can be hired to preform a penetration test which is meant to test how protective your system is. Based on the amount of the information they are provided they are labeled with a type of box. White boxes get all the information, including passwords. Grey boxes get partial in and black boxes get no information. Mr. Rimmer’s class was very cool and kind of scary knowing what hackers are able to do.
Day 4 at RFK Solutionz was really chill. It started off with the guest speaker, Ms. Stephanie. She asked questions about what we were doing at the camp also what we wanted to do in the future. Ms. Stephanie was all for women empowerment in the STEM community. In class we went more in-depth about social engineering. I learned why humans are subjected into doing what other people tell them to do. I big part is intimidation and trust because people are naturally nice and willing to help. Also, we learned the different types of attacks, including phishing, URL hacking and spam. The last learning day was very amusing and I’m glad I when to the camp.
My overall experience at RFK Solutionz was great. The food was really good and better than any other camp I have been to. Also, I like that we had guest speaker and various people to talk to us about cyber. Another thing is I liked the hands-on learning that was presented. I now know to protect myself and my family thanks to RFK Solutionz and their camp.