The US plans to recruit 10,000 youths as cyber warriors through
three national competitions announced in Washington today (27 July
2009).
The US Cyber Challenge,
backed by a consortium of US government and private organisations,
is a skills development programme aimed at boosting the numbers of
future cyber defenders.
The US is facing a severe shortage of computer defence
specialists as co-ordinated cyberattacks escalate, according to a
recently published study.
"A radical shortage of skilled cyber guardians is making the US
unable to adequately defend our systems," said Alan Paller,
director of research at the SANS Institute.
The US Cyber Challenge aims to identify youths with the interest
and technical skills to become top guns in cyber security.
Top performers in the challenge's three competitions will be
invited to attend regional cyber camps to develop their skills
further and take part in additional competitions.
Those who rise to the top in the regional programmes will be
given the opportunity to compete for scholarships to study advanced
cyber security at the SANS Institute and other educational
institutions.
The best students will be introduced to key federal agencies and
corporations where the most advanced cyber security work is being
done.
Tony Dyhouse, director of the UK's
Cyber Security Knowledge
Transfer Network, said the US Cyber Challenge is a good
initiative, but not as straightforward as it sounds.
"The organisers need to be clear about what they are trying to
achieve. Participants may have great technical abilities in the
cyber security domain, but lack teamwork and leadership skills," he
said.
According to Dyhouse, the challenge has to consider how these
skills are to be brought together and developed to provide an
effective result.
"Cyber Challenge organisers also need to make a tough decision
about whether they engage with former criminal hackers to
understand the mindset of the e-criminal," he said.
Dyhouse believes a similar cyber challenge could work in the
UK.
"We would like to see it taken forward providing there is a
clear end goal. Potentially, this type of initiative could be
managed by the UK Cabinet Office, as part of its Cyber Security
Strategy," he said.
The CyberPatriot
high school competition will be conducted by the Air Force
Association. The DC3
Digital Forensics Challenge will be conducted by the US
Department of Defense Cyber Crime Center, and the
NetWars vulnerability
identification competition conducted by the SANS Institute.