Cyber detectives
Safe online choices, simple digital clues, teamwork, and a short mystery students can solve together.
K-12, college & CTE cybersecurity program
Hunting Hackers
Students become the threat-hunting team, follow safe digital clues, solve a fictional incident, and see how resilience, service, and curiosity can become a cybersecurity career.
Career Day, chapel, assembly, classroom, cyber club, CTE, college, and youth-program formats. No live hacking or sensitive demonstrations.
20-60 minute formatsAge-adaptedInteractiveCareers + resilience
The experience
Career education with a story students remember.
Rather than listening to a technical lecture, students make decisions as a fictional incident develops.
01
Build the team
Students take roles and learn what threat hunters, analysts, investigators, engineers, and communicators contribute.
02
Reveal the clues
Suspicious login, message, process, domain, or behavior - presented safely and age appropriately.
03
Make the decisions
Normal, suspicious, investigate, contain, preserve, communicate, or escalate.
04
Map the future
Connect interests in technology, writing, investigation, math, art, law, leadership, and service to cyber careers.
Age tracks
One program, adapted to the developmental level of the room.
Suspicious or normal?
Messages, identity clues, social engineering, AI deception, and how everyday school subjects connect to careers.
Protecting critical infrastructure
A fictional high-stakes incident, threat-hunting decisions, ethics, career pathways, training, and first steps.
From alert to decision
Threat-hunting workflow, evidence handling, communication under pressure, role options, and entry strategies.
The larger message
Resilience, integrity, service, and responsible use of skill.
Douglas's path included homelessness, construction work, military service, technical support, digital forensics, cyber threat intelligence, critical-infrastructure defense, and founding DarkWater Associates.
The program shows students that a difficult beginning does not cancel their future - and that technical ability matters most when it is guided by character and service.
- Christian-school versions can emphasize stewardship, perseverance, integrity, and service
- No real incidents, confidential systems, employer data, or client information
- No live exploitation, unsafe demonstrations, or collection of student information
- Programs can be adapted to Career Day, chapel, assembly, classroom, or club goals
Speaker background
Douglas Peters
Douglas’s hands-on technical exploration began in childhood nearly 30 years ago. He has worked professionally in cybersecurity since 2013 and at the principal threat-hunting level since 2017 across threat intelligence, digital forensics, incident response, malware analysis, OSINT, evidence preservation, and critical infrastructure.
He has helped develop and operationalize threat-hunting practices in Fortune 100 energy, nuclear-generation, and critical-infrastructure environments. His prior private-sector professional experience includes participation in the U.S. Secret Service-led Maryland Electronic Crimes Task Force. He is also a U.S. Air Force Iraq War combat veteran, licensed North Carolina private investigator, and founder of DarkWater Associates.
Government and employer references describe professional background only and do not imply agency employment, authority, sponsorship, approval, or endorsement.
Available formats
20 minutesCareer snapshot and student questions
30-45 minutesInteractive fictional incident and career map
60 minutesFull investigation, resilience story, careers, and action plan
Invite Douglas to speak
Bring students inside the world of cyber threat hunting.
Share the grade level, event, date, time available, and the message you want students to remember.