Cyber Futures addresses the critical cybersecurity skills gap by inspiring secondary school students in Ireland to explore careers in cybersecurity. Despite the sector's growing demand and 0% unemployment rate there is a notable gender imbalance - the sector consists of only 24% of women. Our initiative aims to bridge these gaps through innovative and interactive education. Cyber Futures believes that by educating young people on cyber security career roles, career paths, the 0% unemployment rate and the annual salaries that this will influence course choices that they put down on their college applications. Cyber Futures pays close attention to young women and tries to connect them to the world of cyber security by attending events such as the iWish event, which is all about empowering women in STEM and encouraging young secondary school girls to consider STEM subjects/ courses in the future. The flagship activity is the annual Cyber Security Academy in June, aimed at 16- to 18-year-old secondary school students. Events with partners include the Schools Capture the Flag competition with Zero Days CTF and Cyber Security Workshops for 8 – 12-year-olds during October. As covid restrictions have been removed we are now working with Cyber Security Industry Professionals to deliver Cyber Security Workshops in Schools. These comprise an Escape Room Challenge and Tabletop discussion. These exercises allow students the opportunity to reflect on real-life attack scenarios and propose solutions.
Cyber Futures engages students across Ireland with a dynamic Cyber Security Escape Room, simulating real cyber-attacks. In this activity, participants work in teams to solve challenges within a time limit, representing six departments in a company and navigating the cyber threats. It's designed to foster communication, efficiency, and prompt critical thinking about cyber preparedness. Following this, a tabletop exercise has students strategize on preventing, managing, and recovering from cyber-attacks, highlighting the real-world impact of such incidents. This hands-on approach offers a unique and effective introduction to cybersecurity, emphasising the importance of readiness and strategic thinking in protecting digital assets. The Cyber Security Academy is designed for 4th and 5th year students and aims to educate them on cyber security concepts. This 4-day educational programme gives students the opportunity to learn about Ethical Hacking, encryption and decryption. It is provided by lecturers Dr. Hazel Murray and Dr. George O’Mahony from the Cyber Skills project at Munster Technological University (MTU). This is a free, online course that takes place in June. It is online for 4 days with an optional 5th day to come on campus at MTU. The Academy allows students to take part in the Capture the Flag Competition. Once they have taken part, they are awarded a digital badge by MTU.