The Cyber Security Challenge UK is announcing a huge uptake in registrations for its first set of competitions. Since the Challenge launched two months ago, nearly 4,000 individuals have registered to take part in one of the three competitions running in 2010. To mark the announcement, James Lyne, from Sophos, one of the founding sponsors of the Challenge is speaking on Thursday 7th October at Skills London – the UK’s biggest careers event. He will highlight the exciting variety of challenging roles open to cyber security professionals and hopes to encourage some of the 55,000 visitors to consider a career in the industry.

The Cyber Security Challenge UK is a series of online and face-to-face competitions designed by leading security, education and government organisations as a response to the worrying shortage of skilled professionals in the cyber security sector. It was launched by the Security Minister at the end of July and three competitions were immediately opened for registration – the SANS and Sophos Treasure Hunt; the QinetiQ Network Defence competition; and the US Department for Defense Cyber Crime Center (DC3) Digital Forensics Challenge.

The registration numbers released today demonstrate the considerable interest generated by the Challenge in the cyber security profession and its potential to grow and develop the talent pool in the UK.

“The level of interest in the Challenge just goes to show why we need this type of inspirational and exciting initiative,” says Stewart Room, a Challenge board member and a partner at law firm FieldFisherWaterhouse LLP’s Privacy and Information Law Group. “One of the reasons we designed the Challenge was as a response to industry feedback that there just aren’t enough high calibre professionals to fill the jobs required to secure the UK’s online presence. In just the last three months we have identified nearly 4,000 potential candidates and we expect many more through the doors.”

Competitions update

The QinetiQ Network Defence competition and the SANS and Sophos Treasure Hunt are both run in two phases – a virtual competition followed by a face-to-face round for the very best participants who get through the virtual tasks. The virtual phase of the QinetiQ Network Defence Competition is already underway. Participants received their competition materials early last month and are getting very excited about their prospects.

“The Challenge is giving me fantastic experience and is something really strong to put on my CV,” says Andrew Woods, a participant from Darlington College participating in the Network Defence Competition. “It’s definitely putting me on the right path to my ideal job in cyber security and the chance to compete against people from all over the country gives the whole thing a really exciting edge.”

The virtual phase of the SANS and Sophos Treasure Hunt requires less time – approximately two hours to complete – so this is being run as five groups of 600 participants over five days in October. A second set of virtual competitions for Treasure Hunt will be held during November for those that cannot make any of the October dates. Registrations remain open for these through the Cyber Security Challenge website cybersecuritychallenge.org.uk. The team behind Treasure Hunt are gearing up for a busy few weeks.

“The response to Treasure Hunt in the UK has been phenomenal,” says Alan Paller from SANS Institute. “It’s a real demonstration that people of all ages are starting to get excited about cyber security and recognise their potential to be part of this critical industry.”

The success of the Challenge has also provided a boost for UK entries into the DC3 Digital Forensics Competition. “Since the Challenge launched, the number of UK teams competing is up by more than 600%,” says Andy Clark, Head of Forensics at competition sponsor Detica. “This is an important indication that the UK has the desire, ambition and skills to extend its 'global reputation in cyber security'. One of the reasons we are supporting the Cyber Security Challenge is that as experts in this fast-moving and important field, we recognise the need to continue to develop and enhance the UK’s cyber security skills capabilities.”

Three New ciphers

The Challenge team has also selected Skills London to unveil three new ciphers following the popularity of the first conundrum, released in July. Whilst these teaser security puzzles are not part of the official Cyber Security Challenge they offer anyone the chance to test their skills against the deviousness, cunning and guile of the Challenge team. This time, each cipher is designed to suit a different level of experience. The first – released on day one of Skills London will be pitched at those still at school. The second – released on the second day - will be suitable for university students. The final cipher – released on the last day of Skills London will be pitched at industry professionals and will be the hardest cipher the Challenge has developed to date. Some parts of the ciphers can only be solved using content available at Skills London or published on the Skills London website.

“The cipher challenges are developed by one of our sponsors, the Threat and Vulnerability Management team at PWC. Our ciphers have proved immensely popular and have helped us create lively social networking and real community around the Cyber Security Challenge UK,” explains Judy Baker, director of the Challenge. “People’s responses to our ciphers demonstrate the level of cyber security capability and ambition we have in this country, the sort of talented people the Challenge is seeking to draw into the cyber security profession. The last cipher generated lots of feedback. We have listened and created a new set of puzzles, each one suited to a different level of experience. Some parts are so hard they will keep you awake at night, whilst others are a bit simpler to crack. But all three remain just good plain fun!”

To find out more about the Cyber Secuirty Challenge, or to test your skills against the new ciphers visit cybersecuritychallenge.org.uk or take a look at the Skills London website www.skillslondon2012.co.uk

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Information for editors:

The following organisations are helping in varying ways to deliver the Cyber Security Challenge UK and make it a success:
QinetiQ
Open University
Sophos
Detica
SANS Institute Cassidian (formerly known as EADS Defence and Security)
Cabinet Office, Office of Cyber Security & Information Assurance (OCSIA)
Royal Holloway, University of London
The Digital Systems Knowledge Transfer Network
Council of Ethical Security Testers (CREST)
Institute of Information Security Professionals
Metropolitan Police e-crime unit
Dtex Systems
HP Labs
Dstl
PWC
Field FisherWaterhouse LLP
The Information Assurance Advisory Council (IAAC)
The Information Security Awareness Forum (ISAF) , ISSA, BCS and others
An industry group representing businesses in the banking, energy and technology sectors
Memset
Trusted Management Ltd
Queens University Belfast
Institute for Security Resilience Studies at University College London