Denmark needs more cyber talent as team competes at European championship

Denmark needs many more people with cybersecurity skills as its national cyber team competes this week at the European Cybersecurity Championship, DR reports.

More than 400 young people are gathering in a sports hall in Bochum, western Germany, to compete in breaking into computer systems and finding hidden vulnerabilities. The event may resemble a gaming tournament, but the stakes include national security, DR reports.

In late September, the Danish Agency for Societal Security raised the threat level for destructive cyberattacks to high. A week ago, almost 8.8 million records belonging to living and deceased Danes were extracted from the Central Person Register by perpetrators who have not been identified.

“Cybersecurity is part of the modern defence of Denmark, so we need to train many more people in the field,” said Lisbeth Bech-Nielsen, minister for societal security and emergency preparedness.

The Danish team has 10 selected members aged 15 to 25. Mikkel Broni Simonsen, its captain, has been on the team since 2022, when Denmark won the competition for the first time. Eighteen-year-old Sebastian Bach is taking part for the first time.

“My main motivation is that you can help protect people who might otherwise have been exploited,” Bach said. Simonsen said he enjoys representing Denmark and solving problems in a field he considers important.

Team coach Jens Myrup Pedersen, a professor of cybersecurity at Aarhus University, said the team aims to encourage young people to take an interest in cybersecurity. Mark Fiedel, cyber chief at the Danish Defence Intelligence Service and one of the team’s founders, said demand for these skills was “almost unlimited” across public authorities, the armed forces, critical infrastructure and private companies.

Bech-Nielsen said both public and private organisations are competing to recruit young people with these skills.

The team members also stressed the importance of using their abilities responsibly. Bach said the skills could be dangerous but also highly useful, while Simonsen compared learning to hack to taking up archery or martial arts: the skills could be used for harmful purposes, but that was not their intention.

Aarhus will host the championship in 2027. Before then, the Danish team hopes to win this year’s competition in Bochum and repeat its 2022 victory.