Interviews

Cyber challenge

by Mark Rowe

The Cyber Security Challenge and 15 UK universities are making a search for new ideas from masters students to improve confidence in, and security of, our internet economy and digital society. Registrations close Wednesday, July 31. Students can register from today here – https://cybersecuritychallenge.org.uk/wcit_university_competition.php

The masters students will receive an opportunity to present their ideas to employers looking to recruit talented individuals to not only secure their systems but also improve customer’s confidence in their products and services.

Any MA, MBA or MSc student can enter a presentation based on their dissertation for assessment by a panel of policy makers and business leaders as well as security people. The competition recognises that improving confidence in our increasingly internet-dependent society requires us to reach out beyond the technical, computer science and electrical engineering domains.

The competition has been developed by the WCIT (The Worshipful Company of Information Technologists), the City of London Livery Company for ICT, in association with The Institute of Engineering and Technology, the Digital Policy Alliance and others. It will be delivered through the Cyber Security Challenge which runs a series of competitions developed by employers and supporters from industry, government and academia to find new talent for the sector and is part of a new stream of university activities.

The ‘Meaning of Trust Competition’ is open to any master’s student from any of the following 15 universities that have signed up to provide first stage judging panels for their own entries.

· Bedfordshire
· City University London
· Cranfield
· De Monfort
· Greenwich
· Kent
· London Metropolitan Strathclyde
· London School of Economics
· Northumbria
· Nottingham Trent
· Royal Holloway, University of London
· St Andrews
· Queen Mary, University of London
· University College London.

Initial entries must come in the form of a dissertation synopsis which addresses at least some of the key issues set by the competition organisers. These include measures to increase confidence in security products and services, as well as in those who develop, support and use them, and making the case for or against business, political or regulatory action to address security concerns.

Each participating university will select two or three entries for judging by a panel of industry experts who will decide the overall winners, to be announced at one or more awards ceremonies in Central London. At least one of these is expected to include an opportunity to present a winning entry to a conference hosted by the Lord Mayor with an audience drawn from the Livery Companies and City Institutions. Other awards events will have similar high profile audiences.

Quotes

Philip Virgo, chair of the WCIT Security Panel said: “Society is critically dependant on the security and resilience of complex computer systems, from the generation, processing and distribution of power, food and water to health and welfare. Meanwhile over a million jobs depend on confidence in UK-based on-line and IT-dependant financial services. Trust and confidence are being eroded at all levels, from personal experience of system failures, phishing and impersonation, not just press stories. Rebuilding confidence requires action along many dimensions: from enhancing the standards and competence of organisations and individuals to the use of trustworthy processes, products and services for handling identity, authentication and certainty of delivery.”

Kevin Jones, Professor of Dependability and Security at City University said: “At City we are committed to the future prosperity of the City of London and we see cyber security as a critical problem that must be addressed. But this issue goes far wider. As more and more of our world and industry moves online this is increasingly an issue that affects the UK economy as a whole and requires the widest possible pool of talent to come up with the new ideas to help us tackle it. To help achieve this we are calling on masters students from a range of academic disciplines to think about online trust in cyber space as something that they could make a contribution to.”

Stephanie Daman, CEO, Cyber Security Challenge UK, said: “One of the key priorities for the Challenge from the beginning has been to demonstrate that the cyber security profession requires input and new ideas from all sorts of people with a variety of skills sets. Through this partnership we hope to establish strong connections with university departments and encourage students of all backgrounds to enjoy the Challenge’s full programme of exciting competitions and test whether their skills are relevant to a profession actively on the hunt for new recruits.”

Notes

1. Competition timeline
· From today until end of June: registrations open for students to put themselves forward for
· Mid-September: deadline for submissions of student’s dissertation synapses
· Mid-September – Mid October: universities select their best entries and submit them to the national level judging panel
· 21st-25th October: submissions chosen by the universities should be announced during Get Safe Online Week

2. Key criteria for entry submissions- entries will be expected to address at least three of the following:

· How the idea(s) will increase the confidence of a given target audience (business, consumer, professional, civilian, military etc.) that a product, service or organisation can be trusted for the application in mind
· The use of technology to support and/or reinforce good people processes (e.g. to make it easier to follow “good” practice than “bad”)
· The people processes necessary to make effective use of technology (e.g. for linking “secure” keys or “known” devices to people)
· Who will be expected to pay, how much for the implementation, who will benefits and by how much and the business case for the former to carry the cost.
· Whether the idea gives competitive advantage to early adopters.
· The political case and business impact of any proposal that requires regulatory intervention
· The ratio of “cost” (people processes, technology etc.) to “trust” (added confidence, security etc.) for different approaches and how to ensure that recipients can have reasonable confidence that they will receive the benefits for which they pay
· How to handle issues of cost and trust across boundaries (different technologies, processes, architectures, organisations, cultures, jurisdictions etc.)

WCIT – Formed in 1986 and granted Livery status in 1992, the Information Technologists’ Company is the 100th City of London Livery Company. In 2010 the Company was granted a Royal Charter by the Queen. The Worshipful Company of Information Technologists therefore works to promote the IT industry, but also runs a significant programme of charitable and educational activities.

Cyber Security Challenge UK runs a series of national inspirational competitions aimed at attracting talented people into the profession and informing them about cyber security careers and learning opportunities. Now in its third year it is running an ambitious programme of competitions and activities designed to spread the word about why cyber security is such a fulfilling and varied career and help talented people get their first cyber security.jobs., it is sponsored by some of the UK’s most prestigious public, private and academic organisations and is making a notable difference to the career prospects of those with the talents and aptitude to become cyber security professionals.

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