Clark State Community College is accepting applications for a new summer internship program. For ten weeks, beginning June 1, qualified students will work eight hours a day, Monday through Thursday, in an IT/cybersecurity position. Students will make business contacts and work under the direction of seasoned cybersecurity experts.

Clark State Adjunct Professor H. Dale Rude said there are eight to ten paid internship openings for both full- and part-time students. “Students will get to network with IT professionals and make connections with local industry partners, while gaining hands-on experience in a very high demand career field,” said Rude.

Interns will work at local business locations involved in cybersecurity and later participate in “Hackfest” where they will be trained and​ have the opportunity to "break into" computer networks in a controlled laboratory environment. “The experience will help them understand how to better protect against adversarial hackers,” Rude said.

No experience is necessary to obtain an internship position, but applicants should have an interest in information technology. Rude said cybersecurity is a fast and growing career field and the availability of jobs is much greater than the availability of trained experts. “One can hardly pick up a newspaper or watch the news and not hear about the latest cyberattack or personal data being stolen for purposes such as identity theft.”

To apply for a summer internship, visit the Cybersecurity Internship link at http://www.clarkstate.edu/academics/co-ops-internships and download an application.

Applications must be completed and returned by February 17, 2015.

For more information, contact Professor Dale Rude at RudeH@clarkstate.edu.