CyberChallenge.IT@Unige: Ethical Hacking for Young Talents

Abstract

We present our experience as educators of small groups of students interested in cybersecurity and ethical hacking. Since 2018 we have been involved in a national cybersecurity training program whose primary goal is bringing talented young students to this field and lessen the gap between the available workforce and what the market demands. The training model exploits gamification principles, and our students apply their knowledge and skills in online competitions, playing in virtual arenas. These provide lawful environments to experiment with cybersecurity vulnerabilities, attacks, and defenses freely and legally. In this paper we first describe the national program we are involved in, and then we detail the activities taken at our university, with a special emphasis on this year edition that, due to the COVID-19 restrictions, is currently running entirely online.