To be the good guys, Florida Polytechnic students first learn how to be the bad guys

Florida Polytechnic University students in Lakeland are learning how to be the bad guy hackers in order to gain a superior understanding of cybersecurity. Students are developing 10 different cybersecurity projects including hacking a user’s device and altering codes on Android devices for malicious purposes, the school announced Wednesday.

“One of the most basic strategies on pretty much anything is to know your enemy,” said Florida Poly senior Benjamin Harvey, a computer science major from Tallahassee. “What better way to defend yourself against a virus than trying to build a highly potent, even more powerful virus to defeat it?”

Harvey and his classmate, Jorge Nuñez, are working on designing a powerful and devastating virus that would fully crash a system within a few minutes after an infection or cyberattack is detected.

“We’re doing something scary in class today,” said Dr. Kanwalinderjit Gagneja, who teaches the Digital Forensics course at Florida Poly. “It’s an essential lesson.”

Damages from cybercrime cost the global economy as much as $600 billion in 2017 — up from $445 billion in 2014, according to the latest McAfee report.

The Florida Poly Cybersecurity Innovation Lab uses dozens of computers to teach students how to understand the ever-changing techniques hackers use. Hackers don’t just steal data, they can use attacks to shut down entire businesses, city services, and government systems.

“Cyberattacks happen daily and their nature is constantly evolving. That’s why we update up to 30 percent of the content in our cybersecurity classes every semester,” Gagneja said.

Responding to increased demand, cybersecurity jobs are everywhere. There are more than 300,000 openings this year alone in the United States, according to CyberSeek. Cybersecurity Ventures estimates there will be some 3.5 million unfilled cybersecurity positions by 2021.

“The cybersecurity program here at Florida Poly is very strong,” said Gagneja. “Our students with a cybersecurity degree get hired immediately after graduation.”