The eight Lancaster students are taking on competitors from 17 of the UK’s other leading cyber security universities in a two-day cyber security competition, Inter-ACE, which is organised by the University of Cambridge.

Now in its third year, Inter-ACE is supported by GCHQ’s National Cyber Security Centre to attract the best young minds into careers in the sector.

Up for grabs is £10,000 in cash prizes and the opportunity to compete with the best of the USA in ‘Cambridge2Cambridge’, a transatlantic contest to be held later this year.

Two teams of four students from Lancaster will be taking their place among the 134 competitors, organised into 34 teams from 18 UK universities. They will face over 20 challenges set by experts from the University of Cambridge and sponsors including Context IS and Palo Alto Networks. The two-day event, taking place at the University of Cambridge on the 16th and 17th March 2018, will culminate in a ceremonial dinner at Trinity College, Cambridge.

Inter-ACE will simulate a number of scenarios, including working to prevent a cyber-attack on the infrastructure of a fictional city and the results of a successful tap on an undersea data cable. Competitors will develop and hone penetrative testing skills. These skills include the binary reverse engineering of malware, breaking into a web application such as an online payment system, decoding secure communications and piecing together intercepted data.

Ollie Cuffley, one of the Lancaster team members, said: “We're really looking forward to putting the skills that we've learned as part of the Ethical Hacking Group here at Lancaster and during our courses to use in real-world challenges. This is also a fantastic chance to meet our counterparts at other universities and build lasting connections with like-minded people.”

Professor Frank Stajano of the University of Cambridge, the founder of Inter-ACE, said “Protecting IT and infrastructure means understanding how it can be attacked. The head of the National Cyber Security Centre, Ciaran Martin, is absolutely right in that a major cyber-attack on the UK is a now matter of “when, not if” and we must recognise that the UK faces an urgent skills shortage.

“Inter-ACE gives future cyber security professionals the opportunity to test their skills against the best and meet others in their field and future employers. This is about engaging with the next generation of cyber security talent, and raising awareness of this vital, interesting and exciting career choice.

“It’s also about making the good work of cyber security professionals much more visible. Like other initiatives such as NCSC’s CyberFirst programme, the interesting experiences of the University students taking part in this year’s event will help to inspire those currently at school to consider a rewarding career in this field.”

Chris Ensor, Deputy Director for Skills and Growth at the NCSC, said: “The InterACE competition is a fantastic way to encourage bright young minds to hone their cyber knowledge further and meet like minded people.

“The cyber threat is growing, and so making sure that young people have the cyber security skills to help protect us has never been more important. We at the NCSC hope the entrants will be inspired – and can perhaps inspire others – into starting a thrilling career defending the UK and helping make it the safest place to live and work online.”

Established through the UK’s National Cyber Security Strategy and supported by GCHQ’s National Cyber Security Centre, the competition is sponsored by Microsoft, BT, Palo Alto and Context IS.

The 18 universities sending teams to Inter-ACE are Queen’s University Belfast, the University of Birmingham, the University of Cambridge, Cardiff University, De Montfort University, the University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh Napier University, Imperial College London, the University of Kent, Lancaster University, Newcastle University, the University of Oxford, Royal Holloway University of London, the University of Southampton, the University of Surrey, University College London, the University of Warwick and the University of York.

The Lancaster team is sponsored by Holker IT and Fujitsu.