Cyber security summit agrees white hat hackers are needed

A CYBER SECURITY SUMMIT in the UK has concluded that white hat hackers need to be hired and trained for future cyber warfare.

The meeting, which was held in Cardiff, saw both UK and US representatives agree that "many thousands" of cyber experts are needed over the next few years, according to the BBC. Representatives from the US department of defence, the UN, Microsoft and IBM were all present for the event.

Cyber attacks are a worrying trend, with the US saying its systems are under constant attack, while the UK estimated that cyber crime costs the country £27 billion a year.

With cyber criminals getting better at breaking into protected networks, the consensus was that the only real way to win the battle is to have people with similar knowledge and expertise fighting against them.

The US intends to spend $13 billion a year over the next five years to upgrade its cyber defences, but it's not clear if these will be mostly hardware and software changes or widespread hiring of white hats.

The University of Wales could become a major training hub for these individuals, with plans to develop a joint training programme for cyber security. µ