Cyber Security contains a multitude of specialisms, roles, responsibilities, standards, guidance, advice, understanding and misunderstandings.
Tackling Cyber Security Early
Cyber Security is a proverbial piece of string. There are a multitude of specialisms, roles, responsibilities, standards, guidance, advice, understanding and misunderstandings.
The Cyber Security world seems to be inhabited by very different tribes ranging from those who know everything about everything in cyber but very little in the real world, to people who are so afraid of making a mistake they are virtually paralysed to do anything online.
You cannot create an expert overnight and people working in key technical roles need an appropriate grounding in basic knowledge plus hands on practice in order to gain experience and in due course, competence. But what about people entering the workforce? Is there an opportunity to develop a new generation with at least a basic understanding?
CyberFirst
The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), the information assurance arm of GCHQ, have pioneered the CyberFirst programme of more than six education initiatives for young people between 11-19 years of age, they are providing high quality awareness to a whole generation of school children and young adults.
Cybersecurity Ventures estimates there will be 3.5 million job openings in Cybersecurity by 2021. The CyberFirst scheme shows what can be done and clearly has identified a rich seam of interest in cyber security among young people.
Other programmes, such as HACKED by BluescreenIT, have developed initiatives which identify young cyber ‘criminals’ and offer them a path to a stable, legitimate and rewarding career.
From Education to Workplace
Every student in education today is going to join a very digital and joined up world. They won’t have a choice. Even if they want to work remotely , in time, a broadband connection will find them and they will become connected.
The next generation of professionals joining the workforce will use automated systems like never before. Not only will they use the systems, the likelihood is they will be expected to be able to write simple programmes to link systems to search, combine and manipulate data as and when required. An important element of this is being able to secure and protect the work they do.
This is the new workplace students are going to enter and as people talk about the fourth industrial revolution I propose we need a fourth “R” to sit alongside reading, writing and arithmetic - ’Cyberism‘.
If online security and programming became part of the GCSE and A Level curriculum, and also part of every degree course, within, say 3 years, of introducing this programme thousands of young people entering the workplace would have at least basic cyber security awareness and competence. A fabulous foundation on which to grow a truly digital economy.
Every part of society would benefit as it would be populated by people who may not be able to solve the problem but would at least know there is a problem and who they should call.
Why would such a change be difficult to introduce?
READ: National Cyber Security Awareness Month - October 2019
References
CyberFirst - https://www.cyberfirst.ncsc.gov.uk/
Cybersecurity ventures- https://cybersecurityventures.com/jobs/
BluescreenIT - https://www.bluescreenit.co.uk/it-cyber-academy-uk
