A group of students at Rome Catholic School in Rome, N.Y., are learning how to become the future defenders of cyberspace through a pilot program developed by the U.S. Air Force that officials say is one of 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 say, teachers discuss the ethical and legal considerations of cyber security.

"It's a great course. It's a little 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 (see story: Feds recruit schools in cyber security effort).

The pilot program was developed with help from computer experts at the U.S. Air Force's Research Lab in Rome, who four years ago created a 10-week long Advanced Course in Engineering Cyber Security Boot Camp for the military's Reserve Officers Training Corps, said Kamal Jabbour, the lab's principal computer engineer.

"Besides teaching teenagers to protect their digital assets, the course opens their imagination to the challenges in cyberspace and seeks to excite them into a college education in computer engineering and a professional career in cyber security," Jabbour said.

Computer courses are commonplace in American schools, but the Rome program "is not just a little different. This is a step change," said Eric Spina, dean of Syracuse University's engineering and computer science programs, which also helped with the pilot's development.

Spina said the material covered in the course is subject matter that college students--even engineering and computer-science majors--typically don't receive until their junior year.

"High school student[s] with this kind of background would be [assets] anywhere they went," Spina said.

Although young people are more technologically savvy than ever, they too frequently dabble in high-tech mischief. Rome's program is an effort to rechannel that native interest, said Principal Christopher Mominey.

Thirteen students are enrolled in the 20-week elective course, which began with the start of the current semester Jan. 31. The class meets for 45 minutes after school four days a week, with two of the sessions devoted to lab time, said Ed Nickerson, one of three teachers who designed the curriculum.

With financial support from Rome Lab and Syracuse University, the school transformed a one-time home economics classroom into a 12-station wireless computer lab.