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Cyber College for Wannabe Codebreakers Planned at UK’s Iconic Bletchley Park

Accepted submission by Fnord666 at 2016-11-25 20:16:59
Security
A recent article on Ars Technica talks about a plan to open a "cyber" college [arstechnica.com] at Bletchley Park with the hope of attracting those with an interest in cybersecurity.

Bletchley Park—the home of codebreakers whose pioneering work helped Britain and its allies win the Second World War—could be the site for a College of National Security, with plans for it to open in 2018.

The new sixth-form boarding school will, we're told, be run by a private non-profit consortium of tech firms, venture capitalists, and entrepreneurs, with rumoured input from GCHQ. It will enrol[sic] 500 teenagers (aged 16 to 19) who will be taught cybersecurity skills—which could, it's hoped, go some way to addressing the shortfall in UK talent.

[...]The initiative is being funded and run by a group called Qufaro, whose members include Cyber Security Challenge UK, The National Museum of Computing, the Institute of Information Security Professionals, Raytheon, and BT Security. It will be certified by City and Guilds, a major provider of vocational qualifications. Qufaro chair Alastair MacWilson described the state of the UK's current IT education as "complex, disconnected, and incomplete, putting us at risk of losing a whole generation of critical talent.

[...]MacWilson estimates that there's a shortage of about 700,000 cybersecurity professionals in Europe at present, and wants the new college to make headway in addressing the issue. It's been reported that Qufaro has applied to the department for education for state funding, but if it can't secure any, the college will be funded privately.


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