More than 200 high school students recently had an opportunity to be cyber sleuths for the day, thanks to a special event hosted by BSides Oklahoma and The University of Tulsa’s Oklahoma Cyber Innovation Institute (OCII).
OCII Cyber Innovation Advisor Nathan Sweaney organized the event, which included labs that covered MetaCTF, PowerShell, Python, Linux and more. Some students tested their cyber trivia knowledge by participating in a customized Jeopardy game, while others tried a web-hacking version of “capture the flag” and the Backdoors & Breaches card game.
“What we’re really trying to do is widen that workforce development funnel, so we can introduce more kids to the idea of cybersecurity,” Sweaney said. “Maybe they will start to follow those career paths into the university’s highly regarded programs and ultimately make it into the industry.”
BSides Oklahoma has hosted premier security conferences for 12 years and developed a partnership with UTulsa’s OCII last year. Their 2025 Student Day drew about 80 kids, and organizers were happy to see it expand to hundreds of students this year.
Sweaney said the goal is to create statewide cyber events for high schoolers because there’s a need for cybersecurity professionals in the workforce, and high school is a perfect time to spark interest in these careers.
“We have a huge gap in the number of jobs that are out there, and there are fewer people able to fill them. So, we’re trying to drive more people there,” he explained. “The kids who are interested in cybersecurity are bright. They’re really smart, and they’re looking for something beyond what’s normal. We’re trying to give them the mentoring and the direction to find a productive, limitless career.”
Sweaney said sharing his passion for cybersecurity with the next generation is rewarding because it allows students to take their first steps toward imagining what’s possible.
“To see them actually diving in and digging into things, you can just see the excitement in their eyes,” he said. “Just that initial stir of passion is really exciting to see.”