CyberCadenSpaeth

Home / CyberCadenSpaeth

Caden Spaeth

Crean Lutheran High School
Class of 2025

Received a thorough hands-on introduction to Linux and other cybersecurity software including WireShark.

Worked with global experts from various cybersecurity fields to learn advanced concepts including firewall establishment, CIA Triads, Threat Detection/Analysis, Training Recommendations, and Legal Policies.

Created a cybersecurity protocol proposal for a nonprofit organization to best protect their client’s data and personal information using network and physical security recommendations.

Learn more about Caden here.

Caden Spaeth is excited to participate in the 2024 Cybersecurity & Defense Internship program this summer. He is very eager to have the opportunity to learn and apply the knowledge he learns over the course of the internship. He is hungry to learn as much as he can from this opportunity and hopefully use it to help others in the future.

As Caden began Highschool he started playing water polo at Crean. With his team, he has won a CIF championship. Caden and his team have moved from the lowest division to the highest in a matter of 3 years of hard work and dedication. Caden has also begun his swim team and is working his way up from JV to Varsity. Caden is very excited to experience lots of hands-on knowledge on cybersecurity, expanding what he knows about a subject he is very interested in.

He cannot wait to work to solve an actual cybersecurity problem/issue with a team where they can all work together to provide the very best solution available.

Read more about Caden’s achievements here.

Business Partner Overview

The Sycamore School

Quick Facts

The Sycamore School provides an unconventional way of educating young minds, that aids in lessening the average stress and anxiety most students face when being in school. The classrooms focus on a smaller ratio to provide a hands-on approach that lets the students feel seen and have their varying needs met. With a small staff of twenty-one educators and a student body of sixty-three, the student-to-teacher ratio is 6:1 giving the students a supported environment.

Students are exposed to a variety of courses aside from the standard requirements such as social and emotional learning, theater, and development programs. The focus on having a living classroom gives students the ability to learn about the world around them and how to use the resources provided to them wisely. The Sycamore School supports a variety of interests and works to boost students' self, resulting in 80% of students attending a 4-year college after graduation. The school ranks amongst the top alternative schools in the state.

The Sycamore School

About the Founder

Karyn Ewart has worked in the education system for over twenty years as a licensed psychologist specializing in the development of character-building and behavior programs. She has served in numerous administrative roles, giving her insight into the level of supervision and management required to ensure continual success.

Holding multiple degrees in psychology, including a doctorate, Dr. Ewart has an impactful presence in the secondary education community, presenting at numerous conferences and seminars to spread awareness on varying topics that concern the continued development of young minds. She works to provide an engaging and beneficial environment for students who have different styles of learning.

The Sycamore School

About the Business

Located in Arlington, Virginia, the Sycamore School serves students from 5th-12th grade. This independent school works to foster an environment that “cultivates intellectual curiosity, independent thought, and a love of learning”. Based on the three principles of academic development, social and emotional growth, and civic engagement, the Sycamore School works towards helping middle and high schoolers develop in an environment that encourages free thinking at an individually tailored pace of study.

The Sycamore School strives to foster a learning environment that is welcoming for all and encompasses individuals’ strengths. Using the set curriculum as a guide, they approach matters with mindfulness and openness to facilitate learning experiences and community involvement. Through their engagement in and principles, they are setting the students up for future success.

The Sycamore School

Current Vulnerabilities

Our Cybersecurity concerns revolve around the general protection and well-being of our students, particularly concerning their personal information.

Building systems for our staff to understand cybersecurity and safeguarding their students’ information is a high priority for us, especially with access to public wifi and students bringing school-issued electronics home. We want to ensure the personal information of our students remains secure and our network is protected against viruses.

My Security
Proposal

Our goals for our proposal were to address the main cyber security concerns of our partner business, as well as threats we identified through SWOT analysis and the CIA triad.

Our plan implements multiple cyber security protocols and solutions to protect our partners, such as separate Wifi networks and Amazon Cloud Services, paired with employee cybersecurity training to create stronger protection for the nonprofit’s data. We want to back up data to storage clouds to ensure that it does not get lost and limit the overall access employees have to the information to ensure the personal information is not compromised. Instead of having every person who visits Sycamore School access the wifi, we will impose three different networks each delegated to a different group like guests, students, and staff./p>

Our proposal was successfully granted, allowing us to implement our solution for our non-profit. This will ensure that our partner is not at a high risk of physical threats, employee negligence, and hacktivists, protecting them for years to come.

My Security
Proposal
Presentation

During the Cybersecurity & Defense Internship, I worked with Beth Cerrone and Jamie Kreider to learn about the basics of cybersecurity, and potential career pathways within it.

Throughout the week, I worked with a nonprofit to develop cybersecurity solutions to protect against various cyber threats. I worked with my team to analyze the threats to the organization, and then developed a comprehensive solution. At the end of the week, I presented my cybersecurity solution to a panel of three judges and received grant money to implement the solution.

Internship Highlights

I was given the unique opportunity to take exclusive tours of multiple government and security sites to speak directly with security professionals. During these tours, I was able to witness first-hand how cybersecurity operates at the national and international level.

I was given the unique opportunity to attend an embassy where I received a briefing on cultural, economic, and international situations. We also got the opportunity to ask questions about the country’s cybersecurity infrastructure; therefore, allowing me to learn about cybersecurity at an international level.

We also toured the Department of Homeland Securities’ Cyber Crimes Center where we received classified tours of the cyber crimes unit of the DHS and learned how Homeland Security uses cyber intelligence to track major crimes such as drug smuggling, human trafficking, and major theft.

In order to apply the skills I learned throughout the internship, I worked directly with a nonprofit based in the Washington D.C. area to discuss their companies cybersecurity needs.

After three meetings where I walked through the organization model, protected information, and staff training of the nonprofit, I worked with my team to create a staff training protocol and threat analysis for my partner.

At the end of the internship, I advocated for, and received funding for, my nonprofit partner to implement the cybersecurity training protocols so they can best protect their client information and continue to develop with a reduced fear of cyber attacks and cybersecurity threats.

To learn more about the world of cybersecurity, I was given the unique opportunity to speak directly with cybersecurity experts from multiple different organizations and backgrounds.

I worked directly with one of the leading consultants in Cyber Threat Management, and a consultant for cyber policy for the National Counterintelligence Executive, Phuong Nguyen, to learn about common threat assessment and cybersecurity counterintelligence. I also heard from the global leader in Firewall Creation, David Balenson; the author of the most widely-regarded O’Reilly book on cybersecurity, Michael Collins; and the lead SME for the FutureG Initiative for the Department of Defense.

Throughout the internship, I also heard presentations from, and spoke with, representatives from the Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, and the National Security Agency. To learn the physical side of cybersecurity, we also had the unique opportunity to meet with globally-recognized penetration testers and network threat assessors.

In order to put the skills we learned to the test, I had the unique opportunity to use a cybersecurity software used for graduate instructional courses to learn a myriad of cybersecurity skills.

Starting with network cybersecurity, I worked through labs dedicated to network security and linux to understand how networks communicate with each other and how cybersecurity poses a threat to this communication. I used these Linux skills to complete capture-the-flag coding competitions as well as virtual rooms.

At the end of the internship, I worked with an expert from a leading cybersecurity consulting firm to learn how to built ethernet cables. I used ethernet cord, crimpers, and wire strippers to produce functioning ethernet cables.