Cyber Security Challenge Won By Actor

The first ever UK Cyber Security Challenge competition has been won by a professional actor, who taught himself about security as a hobby.

Paul Laverack from London has become the UK winner of the US Department of Defense DC3 Digital Forensics Challenge one of three competitions that form the 2010 Cyber Security Challenge – which was first mooted at the Infosec Security Show in April and was modelled on the US Cyber Challenge. His prize is sponsored by UK cyber security speciaolist Detica.

The cyber Security Challenge set tasks, such as treasure hunts or network break-ins, for people who want to demonstrate their information security skills. It was officially launched in July and saw a huge uptake in registrations.

Security Novice

33 year old Laverack has never worked in cyber security before and managed to beat more than 150 other participants to claim the top spot.

“It is really surreal. I did not have the intention of winning when I entered,” admitted Laverack, speaking to eWEEK Europe UK. “I have been a computer user since before I went to university and have always had a huge interest in IT. I developed my interest in security after using the internet.”

Laverack, who is married, entered the challenge because of “intellectual curiosity” about security, and wanted to see what challenges the competition presented.

The Cyber Security Challenge is made up of three competitions – the SANS and Sophos Treasure Hunt; the QinetiQ Network Defence competition; and a Digital Forensics Challenge written by DC3, the US Department for Defense Cyber Crime Center.

The digital forensic challenge is complete, with Laverack announced as winner, while the other two sections – the treasure hunt and the network defence contest – are still in progress.

The QinetiQ Network Defence competition and the SANS and Sophos Treasure Hunt are being run in two phases – virtual competitions run earlier this year, followed by a face-to-face rounds for the very best participants to take place in early 2011.

Tough Challenge

According to Laverack, the challenges posed were very tough indeed. “It was certainly very hard,” he said.

To win the UK stream of the competition, Laverack had to complete many different individual puzzles including identifying items of software stored on dummy computer hard drives, through to decrypting complex files and analysing computer usage.

Laverack said that he found the first stage fairly easy, but stages two and three were much more difficult. “Some of the tasks were beyond my skill set and really pushed me to the limit,” he admitted.

Competition Winner

As winner of the competition, Laverack has been rewarded with a place on the Detica Cyber Security Academy, where he will receive two weeks worth of training.

“I am looking forward to the two week prize at the forensic institution,” said Laverack.

And what about a possible job in the security industry?

“Regarding a possible job, I am always up for a conversation,” said Laverack. “This competition is not something I expected to win, so I have done fairly well. For me it was the prospect the intellectual challenge, and these challenges required me to be innovative and think outside the box. I had to do research to come up with some novel approaches. I am very grateful for the opportunity and look forward to my time with Detica.”