US cyber defence challenge brought to Australia

Australian high school students are being invited to participate in a cyber defence challenge organised by contractor Northrop Grumman Australia and the Australian Cyber Security Growth Network.

The challenge, called CyberTaipan, was launched at the US embassy in Canberra by executives as well as the Minister for Law Enforcement and Cyber Security Angus Taylor.

CyberTaipan is modelled on the US Air Force’s CyberPatriot program, which is similarly billed as a youth cyber defence comptition.

The US embassy said in a statement that CyberPatriot had “provided over 100,000 American students with not only networking, cyber defence, and cyber security skills but also communication, leadership and collaboration skills that help them become career-ready” since it launched in 2009.

It has also been spun out into similar competitions in the UK, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Canada,”continuing the competition’s global reach.”

“The US and Australia are already steadfast cyber security partners,” Chargé d’Affaires James Carouso said in a statement.

“Our democratic principles drive us to maintain the integrity of the systems we rely on.

“I can’t think of a better way to face our cyber security challenges than with programs such as CyberTaipan that harness the best of our private and public sectors with the creative problem-solving skills of young minds.”

The Australian Cyber Security Growth Network - known as AustCyber - and Northrop Grumman Australia put out a call for “teams, coaches and technical mentors to compete in the inaugural CyberTaipan competition pilot in 2018-19.”