Cyber Security Challenge Seeks Insider Espionage Experts

The UK’s Cyber Security Challenge has launched two new competitions, thanks to fresh partnerships with private businesses.

The Dtex Systems virtual competition will look at insider threat investigation and preventing leaks of commercial IP, whilst a competition sponsored by Orange will task entrants with finding and fixing security vulnerabilities in an Aston Martin racing team.

Whilst separate, the competitions form part of the same risk analysis and policy development stream run by the government-backed Cyber Security Challenge.

Whack-A-Mole

In the Dtex Systems game, competitors act as an external security consultant for a fictitious mobile app development start-up called Online Mobile Gaming (OMG). In this scenario OMG has expanded its workforce as it builds up to the release of a new game but has failed to implement adequate IT controls.

A rival launches a game called FuriousCatz, very similar to OMG’s game, leading OMG to suspect insider involvement. The candidate is tasked with using their forensic investigation skills to sniff out the moles responsible for the leaks.

“Without skilled security analysts who are able to effectively filter through large volumes of data, internal security breaches can often take days, months or even years to detect, rather than minutes or seconds. The ability to find the events which really matter in a timely fashion is a much needed and scarce skill,” said Mohan Koo, managing director at Dtex Systems.

In the Orange competition, participants have to figure out Aston Martin’s security requirements and demonstrate what the team can afford and what will work effectively in the racing environment.

The Challenge has been adding plenty of fresh competitions over the last few months. In July,  it opened registration for a new competition designed to find the software vulnerability experts of the future who could find flaws and write secure code.

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