Cyberattacks are increasing. Cincinnati teens might be part of the solution

CINCINNATI — An invisible threat is becoming more common: cyberattacks. It comes as experts warn the U.S. is short hundreds of thousands of workers trained to fight them.

“The threats are massively increasing,” said Jon Fausz, chief operating officer at 4BIS Cybersecurity & IT Services and author of “Your Business Will Get Hacked.” “Every single year, the attacks go up.”

U.S. data shows ransomware attacks surged in 2023. In the health care industry, attacks nearly doubled from 2022.

Fausz said many attacks hit companies through emails, but he warned they are becoming more sophisticated.

“I’ve had people who’ve been hacked that have told me that they wish their building had burned down,” he said. “That would have been easier to deal with.”

The rising threat comes as many warn the United States is facing a talent gap, short hundreds of thousands of workers in the cybersecurity industry.

“A decent amount of companies will just shut their doors after they go through one of these incidents,” Fausz said.

He said small and medium companies are likely to be hit the hardest.

Cincinnati students could be part of the solution. The Seven Hills will pilot a cybersecurity course in the fall.

The school was selected as one of 150 schools across the country to pilot a new College Board course, according to Seven Hills officials.

The course will focus on personal digital security, cabling, networks, routing and more.

School officials say The Seven Hills school is the only school selected in Ohio.

“I think we’re long past the point of need,” said Marcus Twyford, who will be teaching the class.

Twyford said the course will start with six students across various high school grade levels. He is hoping the curriculum can expand in the future so more students can explore cybersecurity before graduating.

“I think college is a little too late,” he said. “I think students understand technology at this age. They also need to get a flavor of what they want to do before they head to college so that they understand there’s options.”

Fausz said educating youth on cybersecurity is the only way to solve the problem.

“The only thing that will cause us to get out of the hacking mess that we’re in,” said Fausz.