Austin News

Governor Greg Abbott is urging Texas high school and college students to take part in CyberStart America (CSA) and Cyber FastTrack (CFT), online cybersecurity talent search and competition programs sponsored by the National Cyber Scholarship Foundation. These programs offer over $20 million in scholarships to high-performing students. Governor Abbott emphasized the importance of strengthening the cybersecurity workforce and talent development in Texas, especially as the technology industry in the state continues to grow.

Governor Abbott stated, "These immersive, online cybersecurity programs will help ensure high school and college students have the opportunity to develop crucial skills for high-demand jobs in this critical industry. CyberStart and Cyber FastTrack are engaging ways to jumpstart a career in cybersecurity, and I encourage Texas students to take advantage of this opportunity to become leaders in this important field. Together, we will continue to build a more secure Texas."

Both CSA and CFT are now open for registration, and student play will continue until March 15, 2024. CSA is open to all students in grades 9-12 and provides access to over 200 unique security challenges. Students can solve these challenges as cybersecurity agents investigating criminal gangs, helping them develop cybersecurity skills and receive credentials in subjects such as coding, penetration testing, and digital forensics.

CFT aims to simplify and expedite college students' path to a cybersecurity career by providing them with advanced training and the necessary skills for the profession. Currently, there are over 58,000 cybersecurity-related job openings in Texas and more than 660,000 open cyber-related jobs in the United States.

To increase awareness and participation among Texas students, the Texas Department of Information Resources established the CyberStart America Texas task force in 2022. The task force is working on incorporating Texas curriculum standards into CSA challenges to support educators who want to implement the program in their schools. In the 2022-2023 school year, more than 5,000 Texas high school students participated in CSA.

Governor Abbott previously announced a partnership with CyberStart America in 2020 to promote the cybersecurity field for Texas high school students.

For more information about CyberStart America and Cyber FastTrack, interested individuals can visit their respective websites.

To find out more, go to this link: https://gov.texas.gov/news/post/governor-abbott-encourages-texas-students-to-participate-in-cybersecurity-training