The UK cybersecurity skills gap is widening as the sector grows. The Department for Science, Innovation, and Technology reported that 83% of UK businesses have basic or advanced cyber security skills gaps. Additionally, there were 160,035 cyber security job postings in the last year – an increase of 30% on the previous year, with 37% of vacancies reported as hard-to-fill. Diversity in the sector is also narrowing as only 17% of the workforce is female and only 14% of senior roles are filled by women. Most existing training solutions target school age learners or adults with programming and tech skills. There is nothing making the subject more relatable or accessible for adult learners.
This project will take an existing video game and make a spinoff environment with a companion ‘hackable’ online platform. It will use game narrative to lead players into real world learning resources to upskill in cybersecurity, red team, and penetration testing skills. It will set a gaming audience with interest in the subject on a path of discovery. Through narrative and gameplay, learners will explore the wider world of security and penetration testing. They will discover learning resources, participate in capture the flag contests, pursue bug bounties, and eventually explore the UK cybersecurity industry at large.
Cybersecurity is often seen as unapproachable, abstract, too hard, or boring, and current provisions for vocational learning do not overcome this. This solution will take an entertainment first approach – a fully commercial game with compelling characters and role models that lead the player into the world of cyber security.