A group of students at Rome Catholic School are learning how to become the future defenders of cyberspace through a pilot program that officials say is the first of its kind in the country. The program teaches students about data protection, computer network protocols and vulnerabilities, security, firewalls and forensics, data hiding, and infrastructure and wireless security. Most importantly, officials said, teachers discuss ethical and legal considerations in cyber security.

"It's a great course. It's a littler harder than I expected," said Catherine Gudaitis, a junior interested in theater. "But I know in the world I'm going to live in, this will be necessary information, even common knowledge." President Bush made cyber security a focal point in February 2003 in his National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace, citing the importance of safeguarding America from crippling internet-based attacks by terrorists against U.S. power grids, airports and other targets.

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