High school students in the UK will receive lessons in e-security, as part of a plan aimed at training experts to defend their country against cyber-attacks in the future.
This endeavor has been described as a pilot and spans over five years. 5,700 students of 14 years and above will receive lessons in e-security four hours a week.
This ambitious plan is like an e-version of the traditional armies, a response to the reality of growing threats in the online environment. It seems that the idea of forming cyber armies facing such threats is no longer sufficient in the face of increasing cyber risks in terms of both nature and origin.
The British program is much like military education programs in schools in many countries of the world. It aims to promote cyber awareness. A part of the program titled ‘real-world challenges’ actually considers such challenges that relate to the real world.
Teaching an experimental course on cyber security comes in response to the recommendation by a committee of the British House of Commons, which considered that the decline in computer skills limits the UK’s ability to develop cyber defenses reliable in the future. The matter is of concern to UK officials who considered cyber threats one of the four major threats to British national security.
BBC reported that the number of employees in the cyber security industry in the UK is about 58 thousand people, but there are real difficulties in hiring those with the skills required for this area. The British Minister of State Digital and Cultural Affairs Matt Hancock said this avant-guard program involves the will to provide promising opportunities for the best and most versatile minds among high school students to acquire the latest cyber security skills in parallel with secondary education.
Cyber threats have increased dramatically in recent years. Reports indicate that cyber attacks will be broader and characterized by ability to penetrate new loopholes with unpredictable harm to users. The Internet of Things and the Industrial Internet of Things will play a greater role in targeted attacks during this year and, of course, such threats do not target individuals only but also infrastructures, giant corporations and banks viz. countries’ economies. This conflict is essentially a conflict of minds between States and the two enemies. There are cybercriminals such as cyber pirates and hacker groups, but also states which use cyber-attacks to achieve specific goals and interests. For instance, an alleged Russian interference in US presidential election in favor of President Donald Trump is being investigated into.
Statistics indicate that some 46% of the population accesses the Internet; cyber attacks can reach wide global influence. The British initiative to teach cyber security responds to one of the most dangerous sources of national security threats to all nations, especially the developed countries, but it also represents a national thinking aimed at raising collective awareness among young people about potential threats to their country through proactive initiatives.
In the past, traditional military education developed among the younger generations national awareness and instilled values of loyalty. As these threats evolved it has become a national security requirement to be aware of such threats, especially in light of the large number of online sources of threat. This endeavor will encourage students to engage in the study and professional disciplines closely linked to internet security to meet the labor market needs in each country, especially as they need experts and professionals from home more than from abroad and outsourcing for such jobs is difficult.
This initiative is admirable because it represents thinking outside the box to respond to the challenges and threats, and proactively responds to national needs in human resources in the light of the enormous rise of cyber threats.
