For the first time, the International Cybersecurity Forum (FIC) in Lille is organizing an eSport tournament. A series of simulations aims to test the hacking skills of students and pr ...

Hacking, eSport: the competition to find cybersecurity talent

Teams of students from engineering schools compete against teams of professionals from large companies.

Text by: Romain Mielcarek Follow

4 min

For the first time, the International Cybersecurity Forum (FIC) in Lille is organizing an eSport tournament.

A series of simulations aims to test the hacking skills of students and professionals.

In the stands, no spectators but recruiters who compete for the best talents.

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From our special correspondent in Lille,

It's rather funny

," smiles Tom, a student at the National School of Engineers of South Brittany (ENSIBS).

We are learning in companies where we do cyber security. There, it's very offensive

. He and his comrades face a dozen other teams in various digital events. On Wednesday, they were throwing virtual mushrooms on the game Mario Kart. Thursday, they rummage in the code of the sites of the Red Cross and Doctissimo, in search of loopholes. Each success pushes them up the rankings.

Among the participants, teams of students from engineering schools face teams of professionals from large companies, who take the opportunity to stimulate their cohesion and do

team building

. “

The objective is to combine hacking and eSport to democratize the hacking professions

,” explains Clémence Burette, the organizer.

We assume that students can be as good as professionals. 

For younger people, this type of meeting can be an opportunity to get noticed by recruiters.

On a CV, we can highlight a good ranking or participation in a prestigious competition.

More and more companies and institutions are organizing their own events.

When asked if they're stressed out about finding their first job, Tom's comrades laugh: "

They're going to come get us!"

Competitive players

The shortages of candidates in these professions are such that all the players compete for them. In the public sector, large administrations are finding it difficult to recruit in digital professions. At the Ministry of the Interior, a recent recruitment phase, for example, attracted only 140 applications for around 40 open positions. "

Of the 40 ultimately selected, most did not even come to the welcome amphitheater

," a civil servant said in despair.

When they saw the compensation amounts on their job descriptions, it scared off a lot of them.

“

At my level, my friends in the private sector are paid
1,000 euros more per month

,” says the same source.

I got involved by adhering to values. But I think I'll quit in a few years.

»Limited by the salary scales of the public service, administrations must use trickery to catch up with the private sector. The gendarmerie puts forward premiums and housing. The military assign ranks to experts to increase their salaries. Intelligence agencies recruit contract workers for varying amounts. "

The Court of Auditors should not look into all this,

" slips a professional in the sector.

►

To listen and read also: Cybersecurity: a growing concern for companies and States [Today the economy]

The shortage is such that even the very discreet intelligence agencies are now lugging their recruitment booth from salon to salon.

On that of the General Directorate of External Security (DGSE), a catalog lists internship and job offers: crypto, big data, SIGINT… The new term for espionage.

“

The idea

,” explains a recruiter from the “box”,

is that young people who are in technical fields tell themselves that the DGSE is a potential recruiter.
Spontaneously, they think more of GAFAM (Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple, Microsoft).

The training challenge

Despite the proliferation of training courses dedicated to this sector of activity, the shortage of candidates persists. "

The number of people trained is increasing very quickly, but not as much as demand,

" notes Guillaume Poupard, director general of the National Agency for the Security of Information Systems (ANSSI).

In some masters, it is difficult to find enough students. There is still a certain cultural disaffection, due to the technical nature of the trades or the low number of girls.

Many young people feed the romantic fantasy of the hacker. They dream of clashes between evil pirates of the "

red team

" and nice

ethical

white hat

". The reality is not always so attractive. “

I have heard that cyber is fascinating jobs

,” laughs Guillaume Poupard.

But there are some who are not.

SOC

operator
Level 1, good luck
!

  To stimulate vocations, National Education began to discuss these issues from high school. In the second class, students have been offered courses related to digital professions for two years.

Meanwhile, the talent shortage is felt everywhere.

For lack of candidates, schools train foreign students, who then return to their countries.

France still sees the arrival of many graduates from the Maghreb where training has also multiplied.

But rare are the administrations and the companies to see in these Tunisians, these Moroccans and these Algerians a possible breeding ground: either they cannot recruit foreigners, or the internal culture is not yet ripe to do so.

Hacking, eSport: the competition to find cybersecurity talent

Hacking, eSport: the competition to find cybersecurity talent

Competitive players

The training challenge

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