Barclays and Cabinet Office-backed security hosted the Cyber Security Challenge UK this weekend, which took place in the “grand country house” Radbroke Hall, testing 30 cyber enthusiasts skills.

Contestants had to defend their company from a cyber attack triggered by an insider, and infiltrate and stop the fictional hacker group, in order to destroy the leaked information before it could be released to the ‘press’.

The winning team was Wormhole, which consisted of: Carolyn Yates, Isabel Whistlecroft, Kajusz Dykiel, Peter Campbell and Waldo Woch.

The winners will join previous F2F winners and compete against each other, with the chance to win career-enhancing prizes, including: degree scholarships, training courses, technology, gadgets and industry memberships.

‘Engaging in realistic scenarios’

Troels Oerting, Barclays CSO, said: “The best way to learn about cyber security is to engage in realistic scenarios, such as the competition that we’ve just hosted. Saturday’s event created a scenario that really tested a candidate’s ability to perform under pressure, think strategically, work as a team and display leadership skills.

“A career in cyber security requires various skills, including the ability to second-guess hackers and make critical decisions quickly. It was very encouraging to see students so immersed in solving the challenge we set them, and I wish all the candidates the very best in their careers.”

The competition is the last of 2017’s Cyber Security Challenge.

Written from press release by Leah Alger