Ohio state funds help expand cybersecurity training at the Ohio Cyber Range Institute
Ohio state funds help expand cybersecurity training at the Ohio Cyber Range Institute
https://www.uc.edu/news/articles/2026/06/n21412686.html
Publish Date: 2026-06-05 10:27:00
Source Domain: www.uc.edu
OCRI also uses funds to support training cybersecurity skills for K-12 students for summer campus, afterschool cyber clubs and other events that encourage young people with an interest in cybersecurity, explains Michael.
A good example is OCRI hosted its annual statewide Capture the Flag (CTF) competition back in April. The event involved 68 teams with 226 students across Ohio who participated in the event. It gave students the opportunity to deepen their cybersecurity skills while competing in hands-on cyber challenges for a coordinated day of learning.
“The nature of the internet and our networked world is that we are all connected together and anytime that there is a threat to one of us, it’s a threat to all of us,” says Michael.
“So for the everyday user, when we are bombarded by all of this information very quickly, you know, via email, or text message, or QR codes, or whatever we’re doing, whether we’re ordering food or we’re answering our boss’s email, we could be given information that is from a bad actor.
“It can look very much like the real world, and a real, legitimate email or text or QR code, but if we click on that, we can then open the door to malware being installed on our phones, or on our devices, and that can then quickly spread, through everyone that we’re networked with,” adds Michael.
She says that dollars lost to cybercrime would be considered the third largest GDP in the world, if it were attributed to a country.
“All of the illegal drug money in the world that is being exchanged is not anywhere near the amount of money that’s being exchanged on data brokerage and cybersecurity, threats that we have now,” says Michael.
View the Local 12 News story online.
Featured top image of a student at OCRI’s annual statewide Capture the Flag (CTF) competition. Photo provided.
