Immersive Labs, the highly accoladed UK cyber security startup that helps companies identify and develop talent through a unique cloud-based cyber training and assessment platform, launched The Digital Cyber Academy (DCA) at Level 39, Canary Wharf, London.
The DCA encourages full or part-time students around the world to develop cyber skills by immersing users in real-world exercises through online cyber labs and establishing a global leaderboard that can be used by employers and recruiters to fill the cyber security skills gap.
The Digital Cyber Academy is a global online cyber skills platform that streams real-world exercises on demand, through browser based labs. Users are immersed in real challenges and must continually develop their skills to complete the exercises. Gamification is at the heart of every lab, meaning users are rewarded for each one they complete. The more they complete, the higher up the leaderboard they rise.
James Hadley, CEO & founder of Immersive Labs, who was also a former instructor at GCHQ’s Summer School, explained how he made three observations in his work at GCHQ:
- Classroom learning is not conducive to practical cyber skills.
- Professional certifications were not a good indicator of aptitude.
- Academic background has little bearing on who makes a good cyber security professional.
Hadley created the DCA to help university students transition from academia to employment. Students from any academic background may take part, not just the more traditional degree students, such as computer science, which is often a pre-requisite to any cyber job application.
Importantly, the platform is agnostic of academic background, so employers can focus on the applicant’s skills and achievements developed within the platform, rather than be biased by whether or not the have the “right” degree.
“We have acknowledged that academic background has little bearing on an individual’s ability to develop much sought-after cyber skills,” explained James Hadley, Immersive Labs CEO & founder. “The Digital Cyber Academy will enable millions of students to develop knowledge and hands-on skills, allowing them to be recognised as highly cyber skilled by potential employers. We’re looking forward to building a community of cyber security talent from around the world, on a single platform.”
The Digital Cyber Academy was introduced by Robert Hannigan, ex-director of GCHQ, who said of Immersive Labs’ gamified method of cyber training: “Identifying, developing and measuring practical cyber security skills is the great challenge for all companies today.
Most traditional training methods are outdated and we need to think differently for a new generation of intuitive, competitive and diverse individuals. The criminal world has been good at recruiting new talent often found through online gaming, it’s time we take a similar crowd-sourced approach that is profoundly disruptive for the greater good.”
Hannigan continued: “The DCA from Immersive Labs is the most exciting thing I’ve seen in this space: scalable, agile and appropriate to the way a new generation learns. It has the potential to disrupt and transform this crucial market.”
Anyone in full or part-time study in the UK, US, Australia and Singapore can sign-up to The Digital Cyber Academy, with other countries to be added as demand grows. The academy will change the face of cyber skills training on a global scale. By abandoning the traditional classroom-based training model, it enables academics of any discipline to identify and develop the skills required to make the journey from cyber novice to ninja.
The platform is free for students and is supported by FTSE 100 enterprise sponsors soon to be announced.
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