A simulated national cyber forensic investigation tasked 22 amateur defenders with stopping a simulated cyber strike on a fictitious multi-national energy firm at the weekend.
The PwC-hosted Cyber Security Challenge tasked candidates to lead a cyber-forensics investigation against the recurring nemesis “The Flag Day Associates” who were planning to launch a malware attack. Participants were provided with a forensics lab environment and given authentic PwC cyber-forensics technology to investigate and stop the mock attack.
Andrew Miller, cyber security director at PwC, said; “As the cyber threat landscape continues to evolve and cyber moves up the board agenda, the time is right to attract new talent into the industry. Having the technical know-how to defend against and respond to cyber incidents is essential, but it is equally important to develop the soft skills needed to thrive in a business environment.
“To build a successful career in the cyber industry, individuals will need to be able to communicate the risk and be confident in finding solutions to problems. This competition brings together some of the brightest cyber talent in the country, to help raise the profile of cyber security as an attractive career choice. We want to inspire the next generation of cyber professionals, whilst identifying all rounded and talented individuals.”
Team 4, made up of Andy Snowball, Steve Haughton, Jeremy Fox, David Betteridge were crowned the winning team on the day taking home a variety of prizes including an AR Drone 2.0 each. Fox, an ex-financial trader turned software developer, said: “I realised today there’s a lot more than the technical side of security. There’s a different edge to it. You can be a detective finding little pieces of evidence, putting them together and building the story. Even in the lift on the way up to the Boardroom, we were arguing over who was the guilty party!”
In addition to the winning team, ten participants also qualified for the 2015 Cyber Security Challenge UK Masterclass Final based on an assessment of their individual contributions.
Stephanie Daman, CEO at Cyber Security Challenge UK said: “The scenario PwC has created so realistically here today is not just to sell the industry as great career option to our candidates, it is also an accurate representation of where cyber security is going.”
