UK Performs Drills on Major Cyberattack

The United Kingdom held a cyberwar drill on Friday involving non-professional cyber security experts to recruit the next technology experts and give them knowledge on major cyberattacks on Britain's banking network.

The drill, called the Cyber Security Challenge, is part of a series on Internet security programs that aimed to find news Internet security experts that would protect British infrastructures from cyber attackers. During the competition, participants are being tested on their IT skills, ability to spot vulnerabilities, defend network, and analysis of complex information. The winner is awarded educational and career opportunities worth thousands of pounds. The event is sponsored by public and private sectors which acknowledged that there is indeed a shortage of IT professionals in the country.

This year's event was done behind Winston Churchill's World War II bunkers in London. The area, which was initially used to protect top officials from Nazi bombings, was converted to a room for the 42 contestants. The contestants were asked to occupy seven tables.

While the young non-professional cyber security experts analyzed and deciphered the codes, and traced packets of data in a make-believe network, the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), staffs of the telecommunications company BT, and other companies roamed around the room to observe.

In an interview with the Associated Press, Rob Partridge, a manager at BT, said that though "some of this is a little bit tongue-in-cheek, it's the kind of stuff that might happen."

However, some experts are not convinced of the program, saying that online threats and malware attacks have been overstated.

"It's Hype," said Ross Anderson, a researcher and industry consultant in security engineering in the University of Cambridge, in an e-mail to the AP.

He even added a reworded statement of American journalist H.L. Mencken implying that the government likes keeping people startled "with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary."

**Article is updated to correct prize awarded to the winner £100,000 ($166,000) to thousands of pounds only.