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Defend, Attack, Respond

Welcome to the Introduction to Cybersecurity STEM Workshop. Over five days you will learn how organizations defend their systems, how attackers exploit weaknesses, and how security professionals respond to incidents, all through an immersive, team-based wargame.
This is a fully virtual camp running June 22-26, 2026. Each student receives a USB Rubber Ducky kit shipped to their home for the Day 5 final project.
What is Cybersecurity - People, Process, and Technology framework

Cybersecurity is a framework of People, Process, and Technology

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What you will learn

By the end of this week you will be able to:
  • Identify security controls and classify them by category and type
  • Explain the CIA Triad and how confidentiality, integrity, and availability protect data
  • Recognize threat actors from script kiddies to nation-state APTs
  • Walk through a cyber kill chain and understand each phase of an attack
  • Spot common attacks including phishing, SQL injection, cross-site scripting, and malware
  • Design layered defenses for a fictional business on a limited budget
  • Respond to incidents using the PICERL framework
  • Write and deploy a DuckyScript payload on real USB Rubber Ducky hardware

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Your week at a glance

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Day 1: Foundations of cybersecurity

Learn security control categories and types, defense in depth, the CIA Triad, authentication factors, and form your Cyber Defense Challenge teams.
2

Day 2: Threats and attacks

Study threat actor types, the cyber kill chain, social engineering, SQL injection, cross-site scripting, malware families, and denial-of-service attacks.
3

Day 3: Architecture and the Donuts & Dragons wargame

Explore network architecture, cloud security models, security tools, and build your team’s defenses for the Donuts & Dragons donut shop on a limited budget.
4

Day 4: Incident response and wargame attacks

Learn the PICERL incident response framework, digital forensics, compliance laws, then face live attack scenarios against your Donuts & Dragons defenses.
5

Day 5: USB Rubber Ducky final project

Unbox your USB Rubber Ducky hardware, set up PayloadStudio, write your first DuckyScript payload, and deploy the legendary RickRoll attack.

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The Cyber Defense Challenge

Throughout the week, your team competes in the Cyber Defense Challenge, a multi-day wargame where you build and defend a business against cyberattacks.

Build your company

Create a business, identify assets, and assign security roles within your team.

Defend with controls

Purchase security controls on a limited budget using layered defense principles.

Survive the attacks

Face real-world attack scenarios and see if your defenses hold up.

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Camp schedule

Each day runs from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM ET with the following structure:

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Meet your instructor

Stephen Ware - Cybersecurity professional and STEM camp instructor at Intellectual Point. Stephen brings real-world security expertise to the classroom and guides students through hands-on challenges that mirror professional cybersecurity work.

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Before you start

Confirm your USB Rubber Ducky kit has arrived. You will need it for Day 5.
This camp covers offensive security techniques for educational purposes only. All skills taught must be used ethically and legally. Unauthorized use of these techniques is illegal.