Cyber security experts from a fleet of organisations have announced that they will stage the most advanced Cyber Security Challenge UK Masterclass ever, on 12-14 November 2017, in London.
Spanning two and a half days, Masterclass is the culmination of a year’s worth of nationwide face-to-face and online competitions, designed to unearth and nurture new talent for the cyber security industry and address a critical skills shortage that affects government, businesses and the public.
Participating experts have been drawn from BT, Airbus, NCA, Bank of England, Cisco, McAfee, Checkpoint, De Montfort University’s Cyber Technology Institute, 4PumpCourt and Darktrace.
The competition, led by BT in partnership with Airbus, will see dozens of the UK’s top cyber enthusiasts face each other in a battle that will test their capabilities to deal with cyber-attacks and understanding of business know-how. The challenges will evaluate contestants’ technical, business, and soft skills, which mirror the different ways professionals, communicate today.
This year’s Masterclass will demonstrate how cyber security can be an accessible career choice with a number of different facets and pathways. BT recently identified 87 different roles in the cyber security industry, each requiring a different skillset, which will be reflected in this year’s competition.
Experienced professionals from government, public and private organisations across the country will judge the contestants for a number of aptitudesranking their suitability for jobs in the sector. The best performing candidate will be crowned Cyber Security Challenge UK Champion. Thousands of pounds worth of career-enabling prizes will be issued to those who take in the finale including training courses, tech equipment and a fully paid-for Master’s degree sponsorship at De Montfort University, allowing one lucky contestant the chance to study an MSc in Cyber Security.
Over the years, more than half of the contestants in the Challenge’s face-to-face and Masterclass competitions have moved into jobs in the industry after demonstrating their skills in front of the industry assessors. Competitions like this are said to be crucial for identifying top quality recruits that could reduce the skills deficit – industry association (ISC) predicts the skills gap will reach 1.8 million unfilled positions by 2022, leaving a lack of professionals able to defend our infrastructure from hackers.
Those interested in taking part in Cyber Security Challenge UK competitions should register and prove their skills online via the website and Play-on-Demand system: https://cybersecuritychallenge.org.uk