Training

Teen cyber challenge champ

by Mark Rowe

The UK has a new Cyber Security Champion following the Cyber Security Challenge UK Awards in London. Will Shackleton, an 19 year student at the University of Cambridge who develops mobile apps in his spare time, and recently secured a Summer internship at Facebook, beat over 3,000 entrants and 41 fellow finalists, selected during 12 months of online and face-to-face cyber battles to uncover the cream of UK amateur cyber talent.

The two-day Masterclass final was held at the Churchill War Rooms over Friday and Saturday and was developed by a team from BT, GCHQ, the National Crime Agency (NCA), and used technology from Juniper Networks and Lockheed Martin.

“It’s a big surprise and a huge honour. I never considered a career in cyber security before taking part in the Challenge but playing their competitions and meeting the industry leaders has shown me there are exciting jobs which need filling”, said Shackleton. “I’m convinced security is an area Iwant to pursue and I can’t wait to take what I have learnt from the Challenge into my university studies and summer internship, and eventually into a job where I can do this stuff for real.”

Will now receives his choice of rewards from 90 prizes worth over £100,000 including industry training, university courses, and access to strategic industry events.

Stephanie Daman, CEO, Cyber Security Challenge UK said: “Over the past three days we have given our candidates the most authentic experience of a what a real cyber attack will look and feel like ever created for civilians in the UK. We have put them in the situations they can expect to experience as full time professionals. They have all done incredibly well to get here and the quality of skills on show is amazing. What is most impressive it that none of these finalists are cyber professionals already, the majority of them are self-taught. It’s a real demonstration that the hidden talent is there to be discovered in every corner of the UK – we just need to find it.”

This year’s Masterclass was launched by the Minister for the Cabinet Office Francis Maude, at an evening reception at BT centre. The simulation described an evolving, sustained cyber attack on UK national security that brought whole industries to a halt and put the lives of UK citizens in danger.

BT’s Rob Partridge, who was responsible for creating the masterclass this year, said: “It’s difficult to underestimate the importance of having both professional and technical skills to succeed in the cyber security industry. That’s what we set out to test at Masterclass. That is why we created such a realistic scenario. It’s therefore deeply impressive how well candidates did. No one would have been out of place in on the real cyber frontline. BT has created its Security Academy to specifically address development in these areas. We want our people to be equipped with the best skills to react and remediate threats similar those to the ones we have seen over the past two days of intense simulation. It’s really important that BT has the right people with the right skills both for our protection and for the protection of our customers and the public.”

During two days of gameplay finalists worked in teams to investigate and nullify an enemy whose campaign of virtual terror struck first within London’s financial district, making online banking platforms inaccessible, new stock market floatations impossible, and compromising BACS systems.

Initial suggestions of a DDoS attack proved false as finalists uncovered a spearfishing ransomware campaign using emails that appear to come from trusted sources but contained links or downloadable files that infected entire networks when opened. The malicious code released by these emails encrypted the contents of those networks before demanding money from the victims in exchange for their recovery. After spreading beyond the City to affect the transport, power and utilities sectors, the scenario culminated in a potentially life threatening attack on a nuclear powerplant which competitors managed to avert.

To register for the next challenge visit https://cybersecuritychallenge.org.uk/registration/

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