We interviewed Laura Baker, Executive Director of CyberWyoming and President Emerita of CyberWyoming Alliance, to learn more about the two nonprofits that work with local communities in Wyoming (USA) to increase cyber awareness and education. This exchange provides insights into their programs for citizens, seniors, students, and the business and nonprofit communities that surround them. CyberWyoming Alliance is a member of Nonprofit Cyber, a coalition of implementation-focused cybersecurity nonprofits co-chaired by GCA.
Can you tell us more about CyberWyoming Alliance’s mission?
Our mission is cybersecurity education, awareness, and outreach. The groups we focus on are senior citizens, K-12 students, parents, and citizens of the state of Wyoming. If our programs happen to be used in other states, great!
Our programs are interactive. For instance, we have a LEGO-based attack and defense model that fits in a suitcase meant to teach kids about the Internet and the basics of cybersecurity. It’s an actual physical Lego set that’s wired to lights controlled using a Raspberry Pi and networked with donated equipment like Wi-Fi routers, switches, and laptops.
The kids build the Lego model, then learn some circuitry skills to wire the lights on the Lego set. They learn to ping the router to make sure the cables are working between the laptop, router, and Raspberry Pi and that the Lego set lights up properly. From there, we run attack and defend exercises using Python programs on the laptops and on the Raspberry Pi.
We really try to focus on the hands-on, because we want to make cybersecurity real. Several years ago, I went to the state science fair, and I asked the kids, “what’s the cloud?” Out of about 40 kids, only one of them knew. I realized they see Wi-Fi and all the apps on their phones and their computers, and it seems almost magic to them. They don’t realize how it all actually works.
By teaching them to cable these together, they learn that the world is connected through data centers and fiber optic cables that even go across the ocean. It gives them that little chunk of understanding that they didn’t have before.
In the so-called silver economy, what role should cybersecurity play, and how can we ensure security so that seniors can participate fully?
One of the things I think is really important for the silver economy is simpler phones. I’ve recently had a personal experience with this; my husband’s uncle was a math teacher – a very clever guy who understands ones and zeros academically – but he had never had a cell phone, and it was not a concept that he was comfortable with or really understood. We found him a very simple phone that had only the features he needed and that somebody else could program other features with an app. I realized then that seniors especially need simple devices, and training on how to use them and training to be safe online.
If IT professionals could give tech talks at local community senior centers, making sure to have enough time at the end for actual help with the phones, laptops, or tablets they brought in, maybe showing them how to configure a couple of security settings, that would be really amazing.
We recently received a grant from the Wyoming Community Foundation and WICIP to do just that. We are recording these tech talks so other senior centers can use them and stop the recording for discussion and questions throughout the event. These recordings will be available to any senior center across the nation, not just in the state of Wyoming.
You have created awareness campaigns like “It Is Okay Not to Know – We are Here to Learn.” How do you think they helped to improve people’s basic knowledge of cyber hygiene? What can we learn from awareness campaigns of how to change behavior?
We have to start with cyber psychology. Maybe we don’t want to miss out on that deal, or maybe we think, “this password is safe, so I’m going to use it everywhere.” Because we’re honest people, we don’t think about how hackers are taking advantage of that. Many studies have found that being in a reactive mode leads to poor decision-making, instead of taking a step back and thinking, “what can I learn from this, who can I talk to about this for a second opinion?”
That’s when we tell people it’s OK not to know, we’re here to learn together, and CyberWyoming Alliance is here to help. If you’re working with a group of seniors or a group of students and maybe you’re working on that Lego model, you say: “I have no idea, let’s experiment. Let’s research this together.” You’re showing vulnerability and teaching important life skills on how to research some of these cyber issues.
AI is a good example. About a year ago, everybody was freaking out about what it’s going to do to our lives. Is it safe? Should we use it? Should we not use it? Now it’s more common, but we’re playing catch-up because we didn’t have discussions about our behaviors. We need to catch up on things like, never put your social security number into AI, never put any sensitive information into AI, don’t even put your name, unless you want it in a large language learning model.
It needs to be a dinner table topic to help each other; to lift each other up when it comes to cyber hygiene, cyber awareness, and cyber behavior practices.
The mission of ensuring cybersecurity resilience and hygiene is complex and takes a lot of resources that many nonprofits don’t have. How do you keep your staff motivated and continuing to work toward the goal?
Our staff are motivated by human connection. You think of the world of tech and you might think of that stereotype of the guy coding in a dark basement. But that is not true in cybersecurity. At CyberWyoming, we talk to people every day and build relationships in the real world.
We recently sent an employee to a conference to connect with teachers. She showcased our LEGO attack and defense models and helped teachers understand how to use our free programs in their classrooms, aligning them with Wyoming’s standards for computer science. That kind of hands-on engagement builds real confidence and purpose. We also run a cyber challenge where students create videos on cyber safety topics so our team can actively collaborate with participants to help deliver real impact.
Motivation comes from those relationships and knowing their work directly helps people.
Looking ahead, where do you see the biggest opportunities for collaboration with GCA to strengthen cyber posture among your different audiences?
CyberWyoming is part of Nonprofit Cyber, which is co-chaired by GCA. It’s nice to have a list of all the different nonprofits that work in this world, and to see what their areas of expertise are. We have shared our school video challenge template through Nonprofit Cyber so that others use it with their school districts or in their community. Collaboration makes all our programs better.
That is the gap that GCA and Nonprofit Cyber members fill – connecting organizations and people to build stronger communities. Finding programs that CyberWyoming can adopt in the Nonprofit Cyber Solutions Index, and then pointing people in the right directions is invaluable.
Is there anything else you would like to highlight?
We’re creating step-by-step videos on how to make your own LEGO model for your classroom or library or community center. We’ll charge a small fee – about $25 for the packet – to recoup some of our costs and time spent developing these videos. We want to make it affordable for teachers and librarians.
A lot of libraries and schools already have LEGO sets. So you’ve got those, all you need are some lights, a Raspberry Pi and some old Windows laptops, which is very inexpensive, and you’ve got a good learning opportunity.
We’re hoping to go live with the Make your Own program in August. It’s almost done. It’s getting really close! And the best part is, this could be used anywhere in the world, not just in Wyoming!
