CyberFirst Adventurers short course to encourage students to enter cyber security

ThinkMarble seeks to find the next generation of CyberFirst Adventurers: ThinkMarble becomes the first organisation in the South East to host NCSC’s CyberFirst Adventurers short course to encourage students to enter cyber security

Global cyber and information security experts, ThinkMarble, have today announced that they will be hosting the first CyberFirst Adventurers course for students aged between 11-14 years old in the South East in association with the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), a part of GCHQ.

The one-day short course on 23rd October, will be taking place at the University of Portsmouth and forms part of a drive to develop the next generation of cyber security experts.

The CyberFirst initiative, which was first launched in May 2016 and is a pivotal part of the government’s National Cyber Security Programme, has been developed to introduce students from the ages of 11-17 to the world of cyber security. The CyberFirst Adventurers course is aimed at 11-14 year old students with the hope that it will help inform their GCSE subject choices and provide them with the opportunity to see how studying computer science and related STEM subjects could enhance their future career prospects.

ThinkMarble, recognised by the NCSC as an Associate member of the CyberFirst programme, is running the free one day non-residential course that consists of four themed modules that offer an interactive and hands-on learning experience to showcase the varied roles and jobs in the cyber security industry. Registrations for the course were open to students, with 75% of spaces for the first day filled within the first 24 hours.

Andy Miles, Founder & CEO at ThinkMarble, comments: “Cyber security hits the headlines on a   regular basis and as organisations continue to defend themselves against cyber criminals and hackers, the demand for more skilled people to enter the field is increasing. We know there is a skills shortage facing our industry and courses such as the CyberFirst Adventures are innovative ways to engage students into cyber security.

“As with anything, education is usually the key. We believe it is vital to engage with students not only at A-Level and degree level, where they may have made their subject and career decisions already, but also those younger students still in secondary education. Let’s get them excited about computing early on and change the misconceptions around security being ‘boring’. There aren’t many industries or careers out there that keep you on your toes like cyber security does. We are delighted to be working in conjunction with the NCSC to deliver these short courses to bright and engaging young students and see it just as the first step of our commitment to training the next generation of cyber security professionals.”

Chris Ensor, Deputy Director for Cyber Skills and Growth at National Cyber Security Centre, said: “Providing younger students with an opportunity to experience cyber and computer education is helping to increase the awareness of how beneficial cyber skills can be and developing a talent pipeline that will meet the UK’s future needs.

“By working alongside our members, such as ThinkMarble, the delivery of the CyberFirst programmes is an integral part of our strategy to engage and inform students across the country of the options that are available to them.”

David Hill, Faculty of Technology Outreach Coordinator at University of Portsmouth, adds: “The UK has a world-class cyber security sector, but we need the workforce of the future to engage in this industry if we want to maintain our position and thrive. Bringing together the wealth of knowledge and experience of the University of Portsmouth and ThinkMarble teams to deliver this exciting course to students is another step towards our continued drive in encouraging the next generation to consider careers in cyber and support them to make informed choices about their futures.”

About ThinkMarble: 

• Think Marble is a component level, end to end, SaaS service for Cyber Defence, Cyber Incident Response and Information Protection, monitored 24×7 from a UK Security Operations Centre.

• These are all enterprise-grade services that are built for mid-market companies to cost-effectively deploy.  ThinkMarble customers achieve immediate confidence that the defences deployed in their business are fit for the cyber challenges of today, and that they are operating in compliance with the rapidly developing and changing legislative landscape for data protection.

• As information security thought leaders, ThinkMarble has found great success in assisting businesses both in the UK and globally. ThinkMarble is made up of highly skilled digital security experts, (many have worked in the MOD or alongside HM Government), with a lawyer-led team specialising in regulatory compliance, and deep IT Forensics capability for digital evidence gathering and recovery – we have it covered.

About National Cyber Security Centre

• The UK Government is fully committed to defending against cyber threats and address the cyber skills gap to develop and grow talent. The NCSC was created as part of the five year National Cyber Security Strategy (NCSS) announced in 2016, supported by £1.9billion of transformational investment.
• The NCSC provides a single, central body for cyber security at a national level and is the UK’s technical authority on cyber. It manages national cyber security incidents, carries out real-time threat analysis and provides tailored sectoral advice.
• GCHQ is the parent body for the NCSC, meaning that it can draw on the organisation’s world-class skills and sensitive capabilities.

About University of Portsmouth: A progressive and dynamic university with an outstanding reputation for innovative teaching and globally significant research and innovation. It was rated ‘Gold’ in the UK government’s Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) and was ranked in the top 150 under 50 in the world according to the Times Higher Education rankings. The University is also 25^th in the Guardian’s 2019 league table and is ranked number one in the UK for boosting graduate salaries according to The Economist. The University’s research and innovation culture is impacting lives today and in the future and addressing local, national and global challenges across science, technology, humanities, business and creative industries.