What is the Challenge?
Cybersecurity has an image problem which causes many young people to opt out of opportunities in the field. In addition, cybersecurity struggles to retain talent even when it can find it because the discipline is relatively new and has yet to mature into a sustainable field of study where human connections are supported professionally. Until cyber nurtures these professional relationships (which are evident in established fields through apprenticeships and other mentoring mechanisms), it will struggle to sustain itself as an essential component of digital infrastructure.
One of the most challenging aspects of anyone’s cyber journey is finding mentors to support their growth. This is partly because the definition of cybersecurity continues to evolve as we better understand how it must work. The recent talk of cyber resilience is a good example of this evolution. The challenges implicit in this early stage of digital security are not only faced by younger people. Many senior cyber specialists leave due to overwork and frustration around a lack of resources, many of which are (ironically) related to an inability to hire new talent.
How do we nurture these intergenerational human aspects of cybersecurity to encourage a more sustainable and humane approach to the discipline?
CyberTitan: an early exploration of inter-generational mentorship in cybersecurity
This cyber impact story focuses on CyberTitan, Canada’s national student cyber competition, which offers tiers for middle schoolers (ages 10-13) and high schoolers (ages 14-18). In developing this program, the Information & Communication Technology Council of Canada (ICTC-CTIC) has partnered with the Communications Security Establishment (CSE-CST – Canada’s cryptography agency) to develop a nationwide initiative to develop the real world cyberskills in Canadian students while also illuminating pathways into the field.
CyberTitan has expanded to include over 1000 active students per season but struggles to provide resources to help educators and community groups cross the digital divide that persists, even in a relatively wealthy country like Canada. In addition to a lack of access to the technology needed to participate in the competition, CyberTitan also struggles with digital media literacy in educators who are not comfortable with the technology necessary to mentor students in the cyberskills they must develop.
To meet these challenges CyberTitan recognized that it must perform two essential tasks:
- Engage all students and educators with essential cybersecurity awareness in order to end the appalling dependence on user digital illiteracy to execute successful breaches. Cybersecurity awareness is problematic at best. Passive media solutions such as cyber awareness videos and once a year awareness months are neither engaging nor effective. Using pedagogical best practices to build local centres with real world cyberskills has a much higher impact. Having local centers of cyber excellence makes all the difference.
- Find students with the inclination and talent to fill the global shortage of cybersecurity skilled individuals before they select post-secondary pathways. By reaching students in high school prior to them deciding which post-secondary pathway they will travel, CyberTitan provides early contact with the subject and develops deep digital skills that encourage students to pursue the field when options are still open.
By following the journey of CyberTitan alumni and coaches, this cyber impact story sheds light on the opportunities and challenges that we face in engaging with this often-unrelatable field of study.
CyberTitan has been running since 2017. The earlier CyberTitan Alumni have graduated from high school and post-secondary and have matriculated into post-graduate, government, and industry roles; their journeys demonstrating the advantages of early access to cyber-education.
What is the impact?
Since 2017 CyberTitan has engaged over 6000 students in hands-on skills-based cybersecurity education. This stands in contrast to sporadic cybersecurity awareness month activities that typically pitch passive media at disinterested students to little effect.
CyberTitan is built on international foundations. Students begin the competition as part of the Canadian centre of excellence in the US Air & Space Force’s international CyberPatriot competition.
On compromised virtual machines students analyze real world cyber attacks, mitigate damage and restore security parameters for points in a live CTF (capture the flag) competition. This happens in varying Microsoft and Linux operating systems.
There is also a networking security challenge in which students build secure network architecture through Cisco Networking Academy’s Packet Tracer network simulation software. The ICT skills learned in CyberTitan are very much hands on and build over the competition season with opening rounds introducing concepts, tools and techniques and later rounds expanding to include new operating systems, breaches and complications. This scaffolded approach develops increasingly complex cyberskills and the team-based nature of the competition emphasizes organization, communication and a strong sense of camaraderie. Students who become competitive in CyberTitan report a significant advantage in post-secondary and workplace cyber opportunities.
Cyber Impact Stories from the front lines
CyberTitan From Timothy King’s Perspective
CyberTitan Coach, 2017-2022, CyberTitan admin, 2022-present
I coached national finalist CyberTitan teams from my rural classroom (one of the only non-urban schools to ever make nationals) every year in the first five years of the event (2017-2022). In that time we produced the first all-girl team to attend national finals in 2019, the top defenders in 2021, and a string of top 5 finishers, all of whom were multi-gendered and neuro-diverse. Graduates from my program can now be found in Europe, the US and across Canada working in cybersecurity ranging from naval ship defence, traditional SOCs and operational technology security in manufacturing to researching in universities.
I’ve used CyberTitan to introduce cybersecurity to a generation of graduating students, but I’ve also used the learning we did together to re-ignite my own technical qualifications. Our participation in CyberTitan prompted to become the first K12 teacher in Canada to earn the CCNA Cyber Operations Instructor qualification which then acted as a platform for me to pursue research into quantum computing and its relationship with cybersecurity with the GFCE and OAS in 2023-24. I performed that initial research with former student Louise Turner, showing that mentorship between teachers and students can extend well beyond the classroom, and in this case all the way to Accra!
CyberTitan from Cameron Hadfield’s Perspective
CyberTitan team captain in the inaugural year, 2017-2018
Growing up as a computer enthusiast (and a long-time consumer of science fiction media), I have always been interested in cybersecurity. As I went through high school I learned the basics of software development, further igniting my passion for computers. However, I still had no idea where to look to expose myself to cybersecurity. I didn’t feel comfortable searching the web for things about ‘hacking’ lest I infect a family computer with a virus or get in trouble at school.
In CyberTitan I was given my first opportunity to explore what ‘computer security’ really meant in a safe environment. The experience was invaluable in terms of showing me that there was a safe way to learn the tools of the trade, and further that there was a whole world out there that I could explore. As I am now completing a master’s degree in hardware cybersecurity, I’d consider CyberTitan a pivotal experience for me to develop a passion and focus it on a new topic I’d had no other way of approaching.
CyberTitan from Louise Turner’s Perspective
CyberTitan all-girls team pioneer, 2019, team captain, 2020-21
Joining CyberTitan was possibly the most impactful decision I have made in my technology career so far. CyberTitan introduced me to a world of opportunity in a field I barely knew existed. This program brings together many unlikely allies and encourages teamwork, independent learning, and provides an excellent baseline for students pondering the cybersecurity industry.
The cybersecurity industry desperately needs knowledgeable youth to take the reins, and CyberTitan provides the resources, experience, and most importantly the confidence for students to begin their cybersecurity journey.
I and many others simply would not be in the position I am today without CyberTitan. It pushed me to new limits, gave me a real sense of identity, and charted the course for my career. I would highly encourage any student, no matter their skill level, to have a go at it and see what they can learn!
Conclusion
We have many more responses from coaches and alumni that emphasize the value of intergenerational connections when learning cybersecurity skills. Our coaches speak of working with students as a catalyst for not only learning the subject but also being inspired to take their first technical certifications in years. Confidence isn’t something that only the young need!
CyberTitan alumni speak of the difficulties in trying to even approach the topic when many schools and are anxious about anyone learning ‘hacking’, which is the derogatory term often hung on cybersecurity education. Others speak of the power of teams in reducing anxiety when approaching this challenging subject.
Our experiences with CyberTitan have taught us that cybersecurity is indeed a team sport. People of different ages offer complimentary approaches that create rich learning environments; mentoring the young is a gift to the mentee too. Students find the shadowy pathway into the field of cybersecurity illuminated by the opportunity to demystify real world technical skills in a structured and safe manner.
Cybersecurity’s public demeanor puts it in a difficult position. WEF’s Global Cybersecurity Outlook 2025 describes the cyber skills gap as widening. Intergenerational learning opportunities like CyberTitan ease the anxiety that surrounds the subject while leveraging the intergenerational strengths of young and old to reverse this damaging trend.
REFERENCES
2024 SANS / GIAC Cyber Workforce Research Report
After reading, writing and arithmetic, the 4th ‘r’ of literacy is cyber-risk
Employers Must Act as Cybersecurity Workforce Growth Stalls and Skills Gaps Widen