A 28-year-old chemist from Hertfordshire has been crowned UK Cyber Security Champion 2013 at the weekend, following the Grand Final of the annual competition over the weekend.
Stephen Miller had no formal training in cyber security, and the lab team manager from a major pharmaceutical company beat thousands of others who entered this year’s competition.
Miller described his victory as “amazing” after coming top of the challenge final organised by Cassidian and HP. The 40 finalists took on the role of cyber professionals for a fictitious Formula 1 technology supplier.
“I came to this competition in 2010 with no background in cyber security,” he said, “and yet my own interest in the area, coupled with the experience I have built up playing the Challenge competitions, has resulted in me winning the whole thing.”
Stephanie Daman, CEO of the Cyber Security Challenge UK added that the fact a chemist with no formal security training could win the competition “is a powerful demonstration of the hidden talent that exists in people from across all types of professional backgrounds.”
She continued:
Identifying and nurturing this talent is vital for the success of UK PLC as even sectors as seemingly unconnected as pharmaceuticals contain vital intellectual property that must be protected. The Challenge exists not only to identify skilled people for the traditional security industry, but also serves to highlight to organisations the security skills within their own teams.
The runner-up in the competition was Steve Jarvis, a 24-year-old IP professional in a hedge fund.
