Cybersecurity students hear from CIA's former chief of disguise

Washington County Public Schools student Aidyn Wood compared meeting Jonna Mendez on Thursday to a Minor League Baseball player getting to see and talk with his favorite MLB player.

Aidyn, 17, of the Hagerstown area, is a senior in Boyd J. Michael III Technical High School's Cisco Information Technology Academy where he studies computers, networking and cybersecurity.

Mendez, a southern Washington County resident, is a former chief of disguise for the CIA.

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At the invitation of Cisco teacher David Long, Mendez visited the school in Hagerstown's South End on Thursday, a day off for students. In the school's small auditorium, she shared stories with more than 30 people including current cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and homeland security students, recent graduates, school system employees and members of the Cisco academy's Professional Advisory Committee.

She also took questions and heard Aidyn describe a recent covert op of his own.

With the permission of a local company Long is familiar with, Aidyn's task was to gain entry to the company.

He failed the first two times. But the third time, he got into the accounting department. Then he said he found the CEO, the only person within the company aware of Aidyn's mission to "break into" the company.

Aidyn did it using social engineering skills and doing a "quick change," skills he learned about through school and watching videos of Mendez talking about her career with the CIA.

Long said social engineering is manipulating somebody into doing something through coercion. Aidyn convinced someone to let him into the company's building by pretending to be someone he's not.

Aidyn said he arrived at the company as a food deliverer and told the person out front he needed to deliver the meal to the customer in person. At one point, he asked to use the restroom where he changed into clothes — in a bag he brought — so he would look like an intern. Doing his homework beforehand, he knew the company had an apprentice program. Then he walked around before going to the CEO.

Mendez was impressed with the choice of a food delivery service employee.

"I loved it," she said of Aidyn's story.

She cautioned Aidyn and his schoolmates during the presentation to use their skills within the law.

Quick changes are one of the tools CIA assets use in the field, changing their appearance quickly and sometimes within a crowd.

Mendez also talked about "dead drops" and various equipment the CIA would use, such as a pen-size camera and a "dead rat" that could be used to put items inside to pass along to an asset. The agency's taxidermist would fix the rat up occasionally.

Mendez said she talks to a lot of students. This summer she will talk to high school students from across the country as they visit Washington, D.C. They won't get to visit CIA Headquarters in Langley, Va. — "No one gets into the CIA," she said. But she will talk to them about government employment opportunities.

Those jobs won't make them rich, but could lead to a "real interesting life," she said.

Mendez said she's spoken to students from other WCPS schools, including Pleasant Valley Elementary School and the Barbara Ingram School for the Arts. The arts students visited the family's art studio in southern Washington County.

Mendez works in photography. Her late husband, Tony Mendez, also worked for the CIA and was a painter. His son, Toby, is a well-known sculptor. Toby Mendez's works include sculptures of Orioles legends at Oriole Park at Camden Yards and the Thomas Kennedy statue in Hagerstown.

This was Jonna Mendez's first time talking to students at the technical high school, where Tony once spoke to students.

She described Long as a "pretty cool guy" and "one of those teachers you wish you had."

Aidyn is one of three students who recently won gold at the Maryland Skills USA competition and will be heading to Atlanta for the national contest as they demonstrate skills for their career pathway. This includes talking about having Aidyn infiltrate the local company.

Long said he works to keep the curriculum engaging, current and relevant. Hence, having students help a company test its procedures to prevent intruders and hosting Mendez to talk to students.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: Former CIA officer shares stories with students; hears of student op