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Australia has hosted its second annual Quad Cyber Challenge, promoting the career opportunities presented by the cyber security industry and highlighting the importance of young cyber talent in developing the future industry workforce.
The challenge, which coincides with National Cyber Security Awareness Month, was led by the Quad Senior Cyber Group from October 21 to 25.
For the 2024 challenge, Home Affairs said it was particularly seeking interest from female students and future cyber professionals, a demographic that is massively underrepresented, with women only making up 16 per cent of all Australian cybersecurity professionals.
“We want female students to consider a future in cyber security—a field that offers exciting work, protects people and businesses and helps strengthen Australia’s national security,” wrote Home Affairs.
The challenge invited students to take on three tasks - solving one of the Australian Signals Directorate’s (ASD) puzzles, signing up to the ASD’s CyberEXP to “experience what a day in the life of a cyber specialist looks like” and to explore industry resources on the Australian Women in Security Network website.
Australia’s Quad Cyber Challenge closely follows the US Quad Cyber Challenge which was hosted at The White House on October 10.
The US hosted challenge was a joint operation designed to expand cyber security cooperation between the Quad Senior Cyber Group, an alliance between Australia, India, Japan and the US.
The challenge invited students of the Presidential Cyber Educator Award Pathways and CyberPatriot programs, as well as recipients of the Presidential Cyber Educator Award.
This year’s challenge focused on building a strong workforce and utilising youth cyber talent through educational pathways, the importance of which was highlighted by both The National Security Council’s Deputy National Security Advisor for Cyber and Emerging Technology, Anne Neuberger, and the Deputy Secretary of the Department of Education, Cindy Marten.
Several cyber professionals also discussed their experiences in the industry and how they progressed their careers.
On October 11, Japan’s National Centre of Incident Readiness and Strategy for Cybersecurity also invited three cybersecurity professionals to discuss their experiences and the importance of cyber security roles.
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