The winners of the QinetiQ Network Defence Competition – one of the competitions launched by the Cyber Security Challenge UK – have been announced following a series of challenges over the weekend where competing teams battled head-to-head for cyber security glory.
Four semi-final teams locked horns with QinetiQ’s own cyber security professionals and secured their IT networks against a series of ‘real life’ live challenges posed by the company’s team of penetration testers, network and security specialists.
Team Glitch – a team of upper sixth school pupils featuring Stuart Rennie, Lucy Robson and Yung-Yu Lang – won Saturday’s category for small networks.
Team PEBKAC – a group of post-graduates featuring Richard Hodgson, Alistair Senior and Tony Shannon – won the medium networks category on Sunday.
Both teams will receive a prize from a pool of career-building and education-focused options that include internships with Sophos, experience on the CREST penetration testing rig and free Sans Institute and 7Safe training places.
The members of Team Glitch and Team PEBKAC also win a place in the Challenge final – The Masterclass – to be hosted in Bristol at HP Labs during March. Here, they will compete as individuals alongside winners from the other two Challenge feeder competitions for the chance to be crowned the UK’s Cyber Security Champion.
Charge towards 2011 Cyber Security Challenge UK
Last weekend’s competition is the second of three that make up the 2010 Cyber Security Challenge UK. The third feeder competition, the Sophos and SANS Institute Treasure Hunt, reaches its finale on 29 January at Sophos’ Labs in Abingdon, where 25 individuals will compete against each other to win places at The Masterclass in March.
The charge towards the 2011 Cyber Security Challenge UK has already begun. Registrations for the UK Category of the DC3 Digital Forensics Challenge set by the US Department for Defence are already open.
Anyone interested in testing their mettle should visit the website (access the dedicated link on the right hand panel of this page)
“Many thanks to everyone who was involved in planning/executing the QinetiQ Network Defence Competition,” said Lucy Robson. “It has been a fantastic experience, immensely rewarding and great fun. I never expected to get this far, having entered purely to satisfy my curiosity. I’ll not hesitate to enter the competition again next year.”
Richard Hodgson of Team PEBKAC added: “I thoroughly enjoyed being tested in such a high speed, dynamic and intense environment. This was certainly a fantastic opportunity for anybody interested in computer security. An experience I would never have at university.”
“This was an invaluable, practical application of the skills set I have gained to date,” enthused PEBKAC member Tony Shannon. “While it has highlighted areas for development, the challenge has also inspired me towards my future career in cyber security.”
Views of the security minister
“I’m delighted to see that the Cyber Security Challenge is flourishing and has now reached the face-to-face phase,” said the Right Honourable Baroness Neville-Jones DCMG, the Minister of State for Security and Counter-Terrorism.
“The quality of contestants is impressive, and I look forward to seeing the national finalists in early March when this year’s champion is crowned and the superb selection of career-enhancing prizes are awarded to the crop of newly discovered cyber security talent.”
The Baroness continued: “Protecting our interests in cyberspace is vital for the economic well-being of the UK and for our national security. To undertake this important work in the private and public sectors we need an expanded cadre of cyber security professionals.”
On that basis, the Baroness added that this initiative “is a wonderful example of innovative and necessary collaboration between the Government and industry” to tackle the complex array of threats and risks that we all face daily in cyberspace.
“Finally,” said the security minister, “I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the sponsors of this year’s competitions for their ingenuity, hard work and financial support.”
Response from QinetiQ
“The level of capability displayed by our winners and finalists clearly demonstrates the hidden talent across the UK which we absolutely must continue to identify and nurture if UK industry is to remain at the forefront of cyber security,” asserted Alasdair Rodgers, managing director (security) at QinetiQ, the company responsible for designing and delivering the Network Defence Competition.
“To meet the UK’s current and future online security needs we must encourage those with the skills and desire to become cyber security professionals. The Challenge is a fantastic way to ensure that happens, and that’s why we’re supporting it.”
The Cyber Security Challenge UK is a series of online and face-to-face competitions designed by leading security, education and Government organisations as a response to the worrying shortage of skilled professionals in the cyber security sector.
It was launched by Baroness Pauline Neville-Jones at the end of July last year, and three competitions were immediately opened for registration – the SANS and Sophos Treasure Hunt, the QinetiQ Network Defence Competition and the US Department of Defence Cyber Crime Centre (DC3) Digital Forensics Challenge.
To find out more about the Cyber Security Challenge or to test your skills against our public ciphers visit the website (a link is provided on the right hand panel of this page)
The following organisations are helping in various ways to deliver the Cyber Security Challenge UK and make it a success:
QinetiQ, the Open University, Sophos, Detica, SANS Institute, DC3 (Cyber Crime Unit of the Department of Defence in the US), Cassidian, The Cabinet Office, Office of Cyber Security and Information Assurance (OCSIA), Royal Holloway (University of London), The Digital Systems Knowledge Transfer Network, the Council of Ethical Security Testers (CREST), the Institute of Information Security Professionals (IISP), the Metropolitan Police Service E-Crime Unit, Dtex Systems, Finmeccanica, HP Labs, Dstl, PWC, Field FisherWaterhouse LLP, The Information Assurance Advisory Council (IAAC), The Information Security Awareness Forum (ISAF), Information Systems Security Association (ISSA), 7Safe, I2Group, an industry group representing businesses in the banking, energy and technology sectors, the University of Birmingham, Queens University (Belfast), CSIT, BCS, ISC2, Memset, Trusted Management Ltd, Ultimate, GSS, Pen Test Partners, Cisco, E-Skills Unit at Queens University Belfast, the Institute for Security and Resilience Studies at University College London, BT, RSA, Lockheed Martin, Northgate, Unysis, Symantec and Northrop Grummon
