Reflections from Georgetown University’s National Security Summer Program
Recently, I had the wonderful opportunity to visit the capital of the United States, Washington D.C., and attend Georgetown University’s National Security program in the summer of 2022.
Through this program, I learned that one aspect growing in importance in US National Security is cybersecurity and the cyberthreats facing governments, militaries, businesses, and citizens. Cyber-insecurity is one of the fastest growing issues on all scales: cyberterrorism on the international and national-level, data storage concerns on the corporation-level, and even cyber vulnerabilities down to the individual scale.
I greatly deepened my understanding about cybersecurity during my time in the summer at Georgetown, and here are the top three things I learned:
Malicious cyber actors are getting better and better at exploiting network and system vulnerabilities to steal user data and disrupt devices every day.
Immigrants, under-resourced communities, and the elderly are more vulnerable to cyberattacks because they are at more risk of falling for scams due to language barriers, economic factors, or lack of experience with technology.
Only widespread cyberthreat awareness and meaningful actions on cybersecurity measures can lead to overall security and resilience in the cyber ecosystem.
After I realized these three key points while participating in the National Security summer program, I became aware of the fact that it is absolutely crucial and more important than ever to urgently address cyber vulnerabilities. And, the most effective way to do that would be to educate individuals of all ages— regardless of technical experience—about cyber threats, data breaches, and protection measures so that ALL communities can better defend their identity and information online.
With increased awareness, developed goals, and an action plan,
Tiffany Tu
