Everybody would like to have handson cybersecurity skills, but nevertheless few institutions offer such training. Although, most universities in the country have cyber related courses which do not offer in depth breakdown when it comes to cybersecurity.
To create a soft ground for people who wish to be security experts, Kaspersky Lab has launched Talent Lab, an international competition for university students and young professionals aged 18-30. The programme aims at solving topical cybersecurity challenges with competitors’ technical and creative talents. Ultimately, the programme aims to fund the winner’s education, or send them to the most acclaimed global industry events – such as the Cannes Lions and the Security Analyst Summit (SAS).
“For me, security has always been the most interesting aspect of computer science. No matter what I was doing, security would come out on top as one of the main issues to care about”, says Ryan Naraine, Head of Kaspersky Lab’s Global Research and Analysis Team in North America. “But routes into this profession are often very difficult and many of our top researchers have no formal security education, but got here mainly because they were driven by their curiosity. With this contest, we want to spark the curiosity of as many people as possible, and show how many different ways there are to get into the cybersecurity industry. We want to demonstrate that security is fascinating – because the world needs more highly skilled people in IT security.”
Online submissions are now open at academy.kaspersky.com/talentlab for applicants from all countries and entries will remain open until 15th November 2016. The programme will include an online evaluation period, between 15th and 30th November, with finalists being announced on 1st December
In June this year, Facebook announced a similar initiative of cyber-security competition in Lagos that seeks to develop the next generation of information security professionals in West Africa.
The competition, dubbed CyberXchange Hackathon, aims at discovering the best cyber security prototypes by testing the skills of software engineers working in teams of 4 to 6 people. As announced by Facebook, pre-qualifier registration for the CyberXchange Hackathon closes August 30th and accepted candidates will be notified on September 24th. The final competition will be held in November 2nd and 3rd in Lagos.