TikTok Founding Sponsor of US Cyber Games
It’s definitely a far cry from the times, almost a year ago to date, when TikTok was challenging the former president’s executive order in court. This order gave TikTok’s parent company ByteDance 45 days (later extended to 3 months) to divest TikTok’s US operations. The company faced two equally undesirable options: shut down in the US or find a US buyer. In June, President Biden signed an executive order reversing the Trump-era ban. However, in parallel, the President instructed the Secretary of Commerce to investigate whether Chinese social media apps, such as TikTok and WeChat, pose a national security threat. He’s expecting an answer by the end of September. Meanwhile, cybersecurity officials are already welcoming back the video-sharing social media platform, TikTok. “We’re incredibly thankful to partner with TikTok to form our national team,” said US Cyber Games Commissioner Jessica Gulick. “At the heart of an elite cyber athlete is creativity, tenacity to solve problems and the ability to teach and learn as a team. The TikTok community offers an amazingly rich talent pool that embraces diversity, sharing, and learning.”
Cyber-Athletes Demonstrate Their Skills
The US Cyber Games is an eSports-style event that combines the engagement and educational benefits of gaming. Thus, spurring emerging cybersecurity talent to demonstrate their competencies and skills in a variety of cybersecurity challenges. Earlier this year, 18- to 26-year-old cyber-athletes joined a free, two-week-long competition to earn an invitation to the US Cyber Combine Invitational. The event organizers broke up the Open CTF challenges into six game categories. The categories were: web, reversing and exploitation, cryptography, reconnaissance, networking, and forensics. The maximum number of points is based on the difficulty of each challenge. The top 60 applicants received an invite to the US Cyber Combine Invitational, that started in July. This event is similar to a sports combine. Athletes undergo an aptitude evaluation, interview with multiple coaches, train weekly, and compete in advanced competitions to build their portfolio. Only 20 elite cyber-athletes will make it to the next phase.
First-Ever US Cyber Team to Compete in Athens
The official Draft Day is October 5, 2021. That day, jurors will announce the nation’s top 20 cyber-athletes (15 athletes and 5 alternates) to join the first-ever US Cyber Team. They will receive free training to prepare for the International Cybersecurity Challenge (ICC) in Athens, Greece. Covid-19 travel restrictions permitting, this event will take place from 7 to 12 December, 2021. At least nine nations will compete in Athens, the city where the ancient Games were staged. They will participate in challenges spanning web application and system exploitation, cryptography, reverse engineering, hardware challenges, forensics and escape rooms. The idea of the events is to help find cybersecurity talent and raise awareness. “ENISA, together with other regional and international organizations, decided to design and host the first ICC to attract young talent and raise awareness around the education and skills needed in cybersecurity,” said Dr. Demosthenes Ikonomou, Head of Capacity Building Unit at the European Union Agency for CyberSecurity (ENISA). “We look forward to welcoming all nine teams to one of the best cybersecurity competitions yet.”
Boost Participation in STEM Fields
Cybersecurity, as a STEM discipline, has been identified as one of the most serious challenges facing countries around the world. Experts predict that unfilled cybersecurity positions will reach 1.8 million by 2022. By 2029, the need for information security jobs will be expected to grow by 31%. This across both the public and private sectors. “As a fast-growing global entertainment and technology company, TikTok is uniquely positioned to encourage young people from all backgrounds to pursue a career in cybersecurity,” said TikTok Chief Security Officer Roland Cloutier. “Addressing under participation in STEM fields is critical to enhancing opportunity for individuals, developing a stronger global workforce, and inspiring creativity to shape our future.” For people already in the IT space, or looking to make a career switch, it helps to know where the IT jobs will be in the future. Utilizing data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), we compiled a report assessing IT job growth in America and reveal where IT professionals are making the most.
