The UK has an acknowledged shortage of cyber security people. Hence the annual Cyber Security Challenge, to find cyber talent, of any age and background. Professional Security has spoken to one student contestant. If you are looking for an ethical hacker, you may well be able to find one at a campus ethical hacking society, writes Mark Rowe.
Jessica Williams is taking a degree course in computer games programming at De Montfort University. The UK has a shortage in that field, let alone in security of cyber products. She’s among members of a weekly ethical hacking society that meets at the Leicester city centre campus each Thursday afternoon. While they don’t get paid to learn about ethical hacking there, some are going with a view to earning money by doing ethical hacking.
And there’s intellectual enjoyment to be had in doing it, for instance in online ‘capture the flag’ challenges, with like-minded people. “It’s all above board and permission-based; as long as you get the flag, you can do whatever you need to do.” It requires exactly the same skills as an ‘ethical hacker’ would need to find a vulnerability in, for example, a web application. Just as the weak spot in a physical building might not be obvious right away, so an IT weakness might not be. “Perseverance is the main skill I think you need,” Jessica said. Another intriguing similarity between ‘hacking’ a physical place and an intangible network is that with experience you get a feel, a sense, for where the weakness might be, and where to investigate further.
If you are the sort who wonders if an SQL injection is something on a new make of car, you may want to hire ethical hackers to test your IT systems rather than try to do it yourself. The De Montfort society has visiting speakers from industry – such firms as Santander and the information security consultancy NCC Group; so some employers are alive to such societies as a potential pool of labour. As ever with university, students that take an interest in something like ethical hacking have an advantage when the time comes to seek jobs, over those students that have not.
About the cyber security centre at De Montfort: visit http://www.dmu.ac.uk/.
