Cyber Security Challenge part deux launches

Cyber Security Challenge

The second Cyber Security Challenge UK has been launched, as the search for future experts in the industry continues.

As IT PRO learned at the 2011 InfoSec conference, this year's challenge will see a number of new competitions added to the line-up.

The central difference between this iteration and the last will be the increased frequency of competitions.

Organisers have also put together three skill sets they want addressed, including secure network design and informed defence, as well as the ability to investigate and understand cyber crime.

"Last year was a huge success in terms of identifying new talent and also introducing careers in the security industry as a real option to many people who had perhaps previously not considered it or thought they were not good enough,'" said James Lyne, director of technology strategy at Sophos.

"We've taken candidate feedback on both the challenges and the registration process into account and this year's new and enhanced challenges aim to make the whole experience even more fun and to test an even greater number of skills."

SAIC has joined the fold of platinum sponsors and will be running a competition where challengers will have their progress graphically tracked using the firm's CyberNEXS training model.

This year's competition has also received 180,000 of Government funding.

Anyone can now register for the competition via the Challenge's brand new website.

The first competition ended in March as Dan Summers, a postman from Wakefield, was named as the Cyber Security Champion. He took home a range of career-enhancing rewards worth around 6,000 after beating 25 other contestants in the final.

Over 4,000 people entered the competition last year, surpassing organisers' expectations.

Tom Brewster

Tom Brewster is currently an associate editor at Forbes and an award-winning journalist who covers cyber security, surveillance, and privacy. Starting his career at ITPro as a staff writer and working up to a senior staff writer role, Tom has been covering the tech industry for more than ten years and is considered one of the leading journalists in his specialism.

He is a proud alum of the University of Sheffield where he secured an undergraduate degree in English Literature before undertaking a certification from General Assembly in web development.