By Britton Summers

With the prominence of technology in our world today, students continue to flock to computer science classes as well as extracurricular technology clubs to learn and grow their passion and expertise, which will enable them to compete for cyber jobs in the world now and into the future. 

Oklahoma City Community College is no different. 

It offers computer science classes as well as a Cyber Club, where students can learn more about cyber security. 

Professor Haifeng Ji is one of the teachers of OCCC’s computer science classes, and the main maestro behind OCCC’s Cyber Club. 

Ji said the Cyber Club is for all students, not just for students who are majoring in cyber-security. 

“Students who are interested in learning more about the cybersecurity field or learning about personal cybersecurity tips are most interested in joining the club. Any students who are interested in participating in club activities can add value to the club,” Ji said.

The Cyber Club was established in 2012, with the goal to provide opportunities for students to advance and enhance their classroom knowledge of cyber security and other related areas. 

The Cyber Club has felt the brunt of the pandemic and has been struggling to have meetings. 

Ji said due to the pandemic, more students are choosing to take online classes, which has made it difficult to have in person meetings. 

“We had organized several virtual meetings. The attendance of the meetings has been lower because more students have work and family obligations compared to pre-pandemic,” Ji said.

The club has already had their first meeting this semester, and their next meeting will be on Feb. 22 from noon to 1 p.m. 

Interested students should email Ji at hji@occc.edu to get the Zoom link as well as attain more information about the event. 

National Cyber League 

Students in the Cyber Club also take part in the National Cyber League (NCL), which is a biannual competition that consists of challenges that are meant to test student’s skills in tasks such as cryptography, password cracking, web security, and digital forensics. 

The competition also showcases individual’s skills and teamwork, in which they complete real world tasks that can be used in professional resumes. 

“Even students who are new to cybersecurity can learn from the competition because the Gymnasium component of the competition provides a self-learning environment for all students,” Ji said. 

Ji noted that the Cyber Club has participated in the NCL competition every year since 2017, with the spring 2022 season being OCCC’s 10th season. 

He also said that for the last nine semesters, 9 to 20 students from each semester participated in the competition, and according to the National Cyber League Heat Map web page more OCCC students had participated in the competition more than students from other community colleges. 

Ji hopes that Cyber Club members can collaborate, network, and share technical knowledge with fellow students, industry partners, and mentors through a wide range of activities, including resume writing, interview strategy workshops, cybersecurity competitions, attending cyber security presentations by industry partners, and touring 4-year colleges OCCC partners with. 

“We hope to have more students join Cyber Club and participate in Cyber Club activities in the future,” Ji said. 

Students interested in OCCC’s cyber security program should visit the OCCC Center for Cyber

Defense Education website at http://www.occc.edu/bit/ccde/.