The UK's intelligence agency plans to train about 600 girls in coding, cryptography and other cyber skills, in a bid to address the gender gap in the cybersecurity field. Following a UK-wide competition, girls aged 12 and 13 will be selected to take part in four-day classes on subjects including protecting networks. The aim of the programme is to encourage more young people, particularly females, to go into cybersecurity, said the National Cyber Security Centre of the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ). A new report by the GCHQ says that while there are many women working as computer scientists, only one per cent have been trained for this role.
The UK's intelligence agency plans to train about 600 girls in coding, cryptography and other cyber skills, in a bid to address the gender gap in the cybersecurity field. Following a UK-wide competition, girls aged 12 and 13 will be selected to take part in four-day classes on subjects including protecting networks. The aim of the programme is to encourage more young people, particularly females, to go into cybersecurity, said the National Cyber Security Centre of the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ). Currently, 11% of those working in the global cyber workforce are women.