Northrop Grumman Corporation has launched the 2017-2018 season of CyberCenturion, the U.K.’s national youth cyber defence competition for 12-18 year olds. A record 575 teams, made up of more 2,500 students, including 116 all-female and 45 cadet teams from across the country have registered to participate, marking a more than threefold increase over last year. This is the fourth consecutive year the CyberCenturion competition has been held.

CyberCenturion is the U.K. version of the proven CyberPatriot competition, part of a major U.S. national youth cyber education programme presented by the Northrop Grumman Foundation and created by the Air Force Association. It is a key element of the company’s commitment to promoting science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education and is aimed at engaging students with an interest in cyber to encourage them to pursue academic and career opportunities in STEM to help close the skills gap.

The formal kickoff of the first round of both the CyberCenturion and CyberPatriot competitions was held today at the Air Force Association headquarters in Arlington, Virginia. CyberCenturion will hold two more rounds on Dec 8 and Jan 19, 2018, with the national finals taking place on March 8, 2018, in London.

Inspiring young people

“This year we have seen truly amazing growth in the number and diversity of teams that have entered the competition showing the increasing interest that young people have in cyber security,” said Andrew Tyler, chief executive, Northrop Grumman Europe. “CyberCenturion is an important and popular means of inspiring young people to take further studies and follow careers in cyber. We look forward to an exciting competition and to seeing the teams progressing through the opening rounds towards the finals.”

CyberCenturion is delivered in partnership with Cyber Security Challenge U.K., a nationwide programme focused on bringing more talented people into the cyber security profession and building a bigger U.K. cyber talent pool for government, businesses and citizens. To find out more about CyberCenturion and Cyber Security Challenge U.K., go to:   https://www.cybersecuritychallenge.org.uk/competitions/cybercenturion

Building tomorrow’s cyber workforce

“Building tomorrow’s cyber workforce is a global imperative and we are thrilled to be spearheading this effort to address the urgent need to jump-start the workforce and foster the cyber leadership of tomorrow,” said Diane Miller, director, global cyber education and workforce development programs, Northrop Grumman.

The Air Force Association is a nonprofit, independent, professional military and aerospace education association. Its mission is to promote a dominant United States Air Force and a strong national defence, and to honour Airmen and the Air Force Heritage.

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