It's the lifeline of the technological world that moves trillions of pieces of data on a daily basis.
The computer, whether it’s business or personal, is utilized in multiple facets.
But in some cases, they can turn into a cyber nightmare when viruses spread from device to device.
“It can be anything, from trojans, keyloggers, somebody types anything on the keyboard and it keeps track of the info and saves it for later," said William Beckman, instructor at the Marine Military Academy in Harlingen.
Hardware viruses, or malware, attach themselves to computers, and they don’t discriminate.
It could be your home or work device, and can even, as Beckman says, reach national security levels.
"We have China attacking us, we have Iran, even Russia," says Beckman.The problem?
Once attached, it spreads, and can steal confidential information, even aiding in stealing your identity.
Enter the experts, in training that is.
These cadets are part of the Cyberpatriot team on the campus of the Marine Military Academy.
They've dedicated hours to learning the ins and outs of the computer science field.
Kyle Rogers, the team captain, says, “After school we'll come in and learn how to secure a network or find all the things that are wrong with a computer."
The cadets then put those skills to use in competitions that put them in the center of a real world situation.
So much so, that Beckman says, “There's actually going to be a group of hackers who are going to hack into their computers."
Meantime, Rogers adds, "And we'll have to secure it, and make it safe for users."
Cracking the code that one day, may be the one that saves some very important data from being taken from the information highway.
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