Cyber war: The youth who defend us

The usual misconception is that the only form of cybercrime is from organised gangs and teenage hackers all looking to empty your credit cards. But Britain is facing an increase in cyber crime and digital threats from much more dangerous sources.

Each day cyber criminals, enemy states and terrorists are engineering new viruses to bring down our economy, our national defences and our energy supply at just a click of a button. The shadow defence secretary stated that the “arms race of the 21^stcentury” is cyber security. Britain, as mentioned in a previous post, is one of the main targets of cybercrime and needs a new type of army to defend it. But with a 57% decline of pupils taking IT at A-level from 2001 and 2009, where will the UK find them? 78,000 jobs in Britain will be created by the IT industry in the next four years and “over 90% of IT employers have reported difficulty in recruiting for cyber security positions”.

The Cyber Security Challenge UKwas set up as a competition in 2010 to encourage the UK to get rid of the digital skills gap. It attracted over 4000 applications and the winners received credit from the biggest security companies in the country with internships, placement opportunities and an Apple iPad 3.

19 year old Lucy Robson who won the challenge is currently one of recruits defending our country. She is being trained by the Ministry of Defence’s former research arm; Qinetiq, as part of a placement. She stated that “it was apparent that I was the only female there”. There is a large gap between males and females in the IT industry also mentioned in a previous post.

Just 8% of women entered the competition; Lucy Robson added that “it’s never put me off and I’m not sure why there aren’t more female applicants because it is such an interesting job”.

It is estimated that the total cost to the British economy through cybercrime is £27 billion a year (BBC).

Why do you think their is such a large gap between males and females in the IT industry?