Addressing the Skills Gap

Presented at DeepSec 2014 „Do you want to know more?“, Unknown date/time (Unknown duration)

Mark Weatherford of the US Department of Homeland Security has stated "The lack of people with cyber security skills requires urgent attention. The DoHS can't find enough people to hire". The United Kingdom's National Audit Office has also stated "This shortage of ICT skills hampers the UK's ability to protect itself in cyberspace and promote the use of the internet both now and in the future". It is evident that there is a world-wide cyber-security skills shortage but what can be done about it? The University of Abertay Dundee in Scotland was the first university to offer an undergraduate "hacking" degree in the UK, starting in 2006. The course is now widely recognised in the UK as a vocational supplier of security testing graduates, with many of the graduates receiving several job offers before they've even completed the course. This talk focuses on the experiences of running the course and examines how the cyber security skills shortage can be addressed. Some of the issues discussed will be: - Academia; There are many degrees with titles sounding like they may be producing the correct graduates, however, does the content match the type of skills required? Industry; What can the security industry do to influence the content of academic courses to enable the correct type of graduate to be produced?

Presenters:

  • Colin McLean - Abertay University, Dundee, Scotland
    Colin McLean is a lecturer in Computing at the University of Abertay Dundee in Scotland. In 2006, he developed a course what is believed to be the world's first undergraduate degree with the word "Hacking" in the title. The B Sc in Ethical Hacking at Abertay University in Dundee, Scotland has since become one of the main providers of graduates to the security testing industry in the UK. Colin has been a lecturer at Abertay University for 23 years and has taught Robotics, Mechatronics, Computer Networking, Computer Programming and now Ethical Hacking. On the non-academic side, he has worked with NCR, R&D Dundee, Scotland on ATM security projects since 2005 and with various UK companies on security issues since around that time. He has previously talked at various security events including BSides London in 2011 and 2012, BruCon 2012, E-Crime Scotland Summit 2013 and BSides Lisbon in October 2013.

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