When it comes to cyber security in high schools, we have a lot to catch up on

There is no doubt that high school students use information and communication technology just as commonly as a toothbrush. Unfortunately, when it comes to security, there is really room for improvement. This was confirmed by the National Final of the second Czech Cyber ​​Security Competition among high schools.

Czech SIC votes for age 13

Czech children under age 13 who use Facebook or Instagram are less than four months away from becoming lawbreakers. What makes the situation even worse is the fact that unless a law is passed by this May that would set the threshold for the use of social networking services to 13 years, from that point their use, along with other services, will become illegal for every person aged from 13 to 16 who does not obtain consent of their parents. This issue has already been addressed in our blog by our colleague Jiří Průša. But let’s go deeper.

Looking back at the first round of the cyber competition

The ongoing first nationwide competition in cyber security attracted not only students of technical fields, but also many gymnasium students. The first round of the competition was attended by 1,067 participants from 162 schools of various specialization from across the country. The only restriction was the age (15-18 years), in order that the most successful competitors be qualified for the European Cyber Security Challenge. Most students came from the Prague, South Moravia, Pardubice and Vysočina regions.

The most significant attacks addressed by security teams in the Danube region

On March 15, 2016, the concluding conference of the project “Cyber ​​security in the Danube region” (CS Danube) took place. The main objective of the project joined by representatives of security teams and organizations from Croatia, Austria, Slovakia, Serbia and Moldova, as well as our team CSIRT.CZ, was to strengthen the capacity of individual teams and cooperation in cyber security.