In recent news, it has been brought to light that the US military and government are actively searching for experienced hackers and crackers to join the ranks of the Department of Energy, National Security Agency and other organizations that need to be ‘protected’ from the threat of digital attack.

To aid the US government in its search for young, prospective hackers, they have launched a series of three national level competitions known as the Cyber Challenge, which looks set to test children’s knowledge in regards to security penetration, digital forensics and cyber-espionage.  Those successful at the ‘Cyber Challenge’ will be invited to attend a joint private / military training camp during 2010 which looks set to develop the skills and recruit these youngsters into various agencies such as the NSA and the DOE as well as the armed forces.

This story demonstrates how scared government agencies are from the threat of digital assault.  As a result, they have started to recruit the ‘child prodigies’ which will help them develop next generation security and or espionage abilities.

Today we are living in a world in which it is impossible to live without an Internet connection, or some means to work remotely.  This is a risk every modern corporation faces, and obviously governments also.  What is disturbing is where the US government is looking for the next generation of cyber security analysts and what this actually means.  Effectively instead of looking at the upper echelons of academia for advice, the US government is resorting to recruiting children for their expertise, which is demonstrative of how many information security professionals have missed a whole generation of technology.

Security policy needs to evolve with the Internet and the technology that supports it.  Eighty percent of IT professionals are reliant on outdated technology and methodologies.  This is clearly the US government’s way to remedy this, by taking it to a grass-roots level.