A new UK-based competition has been launched to find people with the necessary forensic, analytical and programming skills to protect the UKs computer networks and infrastructure in the future.
The aim of the competition is to encourage more people to go into cyber-security and help protect the British people from cyber-crime and cyber-terrorism. The initiative is backed by the British government, the Metropolitan Police, Qinetiq, Royal Holloway College and the Institute of Information Professionals among others.
Anyone aged 16 or over can enter the challenge which officially launched today at http://cybersecuritychallenge.org.uk/site/Home
The top performers in the challenge, which is a series of games designed to gauge ability, will receive prizes including scholarships, training courses and mentoring.
"We are increasingly dependent on networks and computer systems," said Judy Baker, director of the Cyber Security Challenge (CSC). "The whole digital economy and society is structured around them."
The UK has lagged behind other countries in recent years when it comes to IT and programming skills, this is clearly an attempt to set things right again. Cyber-security is a huge issue and will only become more so in the future. It’s also certain that future wars and conflicts will partly be waged online, with network, communications, internet and other infrastructure (such as power grids) under attack from hackers, trojans and virus attacks. Clearly the UK needs to be ready to defend itself.
The US recently announced a whole new cyber-security division at the Pentagon to tackle the threats posed by cyber-crime.
Written by : Mike Halsey www.connectedinternet.co.uk
Source : BBC
