糖心Vlog传媒

Graduate Chance Melby Has Provided Cybersecurity Education for Hundreds of Arkansas Students

Chance Melby, a Donaghey Scholar from Cabot, first got hooked on cybersecurity when he interned with the Cabot Public School District Technology Department during high school.聽 鈥淥riginally, I was accepted into the Donaghey Scholars Program and that solidified my choice into going to 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock,鈥� Melby said. 鈥淚 also heard the Computer Science Program was one of the best in the state. I saw the opportunities that computer science and the City of Little Rock could give me. I wanted to get my foot in the door and learn new things. I knew 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock was a place where I could excel.鈥� He graduated this semester with a bachelor鈥檚 degree in computer science with a focus on cybersecurity and is looking forward to a future career in cybersecurity. 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock is starting its first bachelor鈥檚 degree program in cybersecurity this fall. Melby has been instrumental in the development of the Cyber Arena, which provides cloud-based cybersecurity education for K-12 students in Arkansas. 鈥淚 discovered that Arkansas has too many unfilled cybersecurity positions and not enough skilled professionals,鈥� Melby said. 鈥淭o address this issue, I dedicated myself to ensuring that each Arkansas student has the opportunity to learn about cybersecurity so that our communities may use their future expertise to protect everyone鈥檚 data and privacy.鈥� As a hands-on learner, Melby dedicated himself to studying and participating in competitions that would propel his skills in cybersecurity. He served as president of 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock鈥檚 Cybersecurity Club and participated in events like the Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition, Jolt Hackathon, United States Cyber Challenge, and Walmart鈥檚 Sp4rckCon 2.0. The 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Cyber Arena hosts educational materials and threat exercises on cybersecurity for students and teachers on the Google Cloud platform. Melby has created nine out of the 24 labs available on the cloud. These labs have been used by more than 450 K-12 students across 80 Arkansas schools. “Chance has worked on the 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Cyber Arena since the beginning and has seen it reach schools all across Arkansas,鈥� said Philip Huff, assistant professor of computer science at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock. 鈥淭he workouts he develops are always popular among students. He has a gift for communicating the complexities of cybersecurity in a way students connect with and enjoy.” Melby recently won second place in the university鈥檚 Student Research and Creative Works Expo for one of the educational projects he鈥檚 developed for the Cyber Arena, 鈥�糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Classified: An Intentionally Vulnerable Web Application Focused on Teaching K-12 and Undergraduate Students about Web Application Security.鈥� 鈥淭he web application is called 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Classified because it has a story element attached to it in which fictional Cyber Arena employees try to secure classified flags,鈥� Melby said. 鈥淭hey do a horrible job at it, hence the vulnerable web application. The student is tasked with finding those flags. By providing fun, engaging scenarios about 鈥榮ecret classified documents鈥� and challenging yet straightforward exercises to retrieve these 鈥榙ocuments,鈥� more students could excel and learn about web application security.鈥� As he became more adept in web application development and cybersecurity, Melby used his skills to work with Cyber Arena partners.聽聽 鈥淭he first partnership I worked with was the Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development Center (ASBTDC) for a Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification assessment hosted as a Google Cloud container web application,鈥� he said. 鈥淎fter that project, I took up my current project with the NSA on threat exercises to teach about protecting private healthcare information from IoT attacks.鈥� Melby counts Dr. Simon Hawkins and Dr. Jessica Scott from the Donaghey Scholars Honors Program as mentors who 鈥済ave me an opportunity that changed my life.鈥� 鈥�Chance is going to go do great things in cybersecurity. He has an evangelical zeal on the topic,鈥� said Hawkins, director of the Donaghey Scholars Honors Program. 鈥淗e explains the complexity of the field so well that he can make even the most befuddled liberal arts professor feel that they understand the ideas. He is committed to working with the growing cybersecurity industry in Central Arkansas.鈥� Chance is also thankful to Philip Huff for always making his life interesting in college. 鈥淗e is my primary advisor, professor, my mentor, and boss,鈥� Melby said. 鈥淗e gave me the opportunity to work with Arkansas students through the Cyber Arena, and taught me so many technical skills. He鈥檚 taught me so much. If Philip Huff wasn鈥檛 at this university, I believe we鈥檇 be having a different conversation. My story might not even have been interesting enough to tell.鈥� Melby also volunteers with Girls of Promise as part of a virtual program to educate and encourage young women interested in STEM about career opportunities in cybersecurity through the Cyber Arena. 鈥淭here are not enough skilled cybersecurity professionals out there,鈥� Melby said. 鈥淲omen are underrepresented in the STEM area. With this program and my volunteering, I was hoping to encourage these young women to get interested in a STEM career, hopefully cybersecurity.鈥� Following his graduation, Melby will start an internship at Arkansas Electric Cooperative, begin testing for more certifications, and look for a permanent position in cybersecurity. 鈥淲hat鈥檚 next is to get my foot in the door to find a career in cybersecurity in Arkansas,鈥� Melby said. 鈥淓ven though I鈥檝e graduated, I鈥檒l still be a student at heart going for these certifications in computer science and cybersecurity. Now that I鈥檝e graduated, it鈥檚 surreal to think how four years went by so fast. Now I鈥檓 ready to get out there and put what I learned to the test.鈥�