March 21, 2019

Episode 144 - #CyberTaipan joins an International program delivering a critical skills pipeline with #CyberPatriot #CyberCenturian #CyberArabia

This interview with Michelle Price, Chief Executive Officer of AustCyber and Diane Miller, Director, Global Cyber Education & Workforce Initiatives for Northrop Grumman provides insight into the CyberTaipan Finals Competition held in Canberra on 16 March 2019 and the program's link to the USA, UK and Saudi Arabia.

Recorded on Saturday, 16 March at the Canberra Institute of Technology. MySecurity Media attended CyberTaipan courtesy of AustCyber.

#CyberTaipan Finals Competition creates focus on CyberSecurity in Canberra - Podcast & Editor's Insights (https://australiancybersecuritymagazine.com.au/cybertaipan-finals-competition-creates-focus-on-cybersecurity-in-canberra-podcast-editors-insights/)

Saturday, March 16, 2019 was a unique and eventful day for cyber security in the nation’s capital, with two events appropriately linked by AustCyber, the Australian Cyber Security Growth Network (ACSGN).

BSidesCanberra, into its fourth year, welcomed well over 2,000 delegates from the Infosec community to delve and dive into the dark arts of hacking, breaking and picking at the National Convention Centre. The event was reportedly enlivened with a fire evacuation thanks to a smouldering lithium battery, clearly a sign that the machines were being put to the test. Whilst across the road, at the Canberra Institute of Technology, a national finals pilot program for Australia’s first CyberTaipan competition was underway, with support from some of Australia’s largest enterprises, Northrop Grumman, Blackberry, PwC Australia and Woodside Energy.

Both events were fully supported by AustCyber, with CyberTaipan delivering a major ‘workforce development pipeline’ project for the ACSGN. The winning team, TSS or The Southport School, took a strong and early lead, and were announced as winners at an awards dinner ceremony at Parliament House that evening. The Canberra Festival fireworks was a timely conclusion and celebration to an eventful day.

CyberTaipan, Australia’s first such competition, follows that of the CyberPatriot program in the US, now in its eleventh year and CyberCenturian (UK) and CyberArabia (Saudi Arabia) in their fifth years. Facilitated by the US Airforce Association, ten teams from across the east coast of Australia were set through their paces over 4 hours. The task was to protect and defend a corporate network for a local government organisation and undertake a series of challenges along the way. In a sense, these talented high school students were learning to defend against those 2,000+ hackers from across the road at the NCC. Indeed, there is little doubt that the CyberTaipans will soon make their way to one or more of the BSides events being annually held around Australia.

Whilst starting on a relatively small scale in 2009, CyberPatriot has grown to involve 6,387 teams from across the USA in 2019. Though the CyberPatriot program isn’t just the beginning. The USA program actually starts for many students with ‘Sarah the Cyber Hero’, created as a pre-reader book for preschools and grandparents, a cyber security and online safety program throughout the 5 -11 years and week-long summer cyber camps for 12-18 year-olds. All these are designed to complement and gap fill the normal curriculum in the classroom.

A good example of how CyberTaipan connects and inspires was Josie and Lang, aka Team Sparkling Stars, the only all girls team. Speaking at Parliament House, each were proudly pleased with their day’s effort. “We did better than we thought”, said Josie.

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