Cyber Security Challenge UK: A success or not?

gallery

ANALYSIS The first Cyber Security Challenge UK has come to a close, with the overall champion turning out to be a postman from Wakefield.

Dan Summers, a former IT professional, was delighted to have won the top prize and sang the competition’s praises.

Indeed, everyone involved at the closing event on Sunday was hugely upbeat about how the event had gone.

That said, as it was the inaugural event, there are still areas organisers may want to improve on going forward.

A job well done

The organisers should receive plenty of praise for their efforts over the past 10 months and should rightly give themselves a pat on the back.

Judy Baker, the brains behind the Cyber Security Challenge, was understandably delighted with how much the competition had achieved in a short period of time.

During her speech at the final in Bristol on Sunday, Baker said she was particularly pleased with the types of people who entered.

“[We found] there are lots of people out there who wanted to play in cyber security,” she said.

“They are people who think outside the box, which makes it a really interesting and stimulating place to work… There are a lot of futuristic, creative energies out there.”

Around 4,000 people took part in the competition and the 25 eventual finalists came from wide variety of backgrounds. James Lyne, senior technologist at Sophos - a young security professional himself - said all of the finalists could get a job in the industry.

“We have already discovered some incredibly talented individuals, and we are looking forward to uncovering a whole new raft of cyber security talent this year through the challenge’s unique mix of online and face-to-face competitions,” he said.

Undoubtedly, this competition will help both increase awareness of the need for cyber security professionals and bring people into the industry who may have never otherwise considered such roles.

Young Stewart Rennie is a prime example of the kind of talent such a competition can bring out. Rennie, aged just 17, was involved in two winning teams and came out as runner up overall.

And Summers, who had actually left the IT industry, looks likely to return and will surely be snapped up after his success.

Email to a friend

Print this page