Who can imagine police officers being trained to... steal, in order to prevent crime? And yet, something similar is happening in internet terms. Because hackers are being trained and are now in demand.
At ETH Zurich, for example, network and computer hacking is part of the curriculum for students. There, they learn how to “hack” the internet and mobile phones, taking courses on “wireless electronic warfare” and “modern malware.” These are designed to teach students how to prevent such attacks.
Cybersecurity has evolved into an industry with a turnover of 60 billion dollars per year, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers, while the number of students enrolling in the above postgraduate program has tripled since 2009, as reported by "Kathimerini".
The demand for experts in this field has increased dramatically, with large multinationals hiring more experts in their effort to ward off threats to their networks and products. Something that Edward Snowden's revelations have certainly played a role in.
"The NSA case was the bellwether, although at the same time companies are realizing that there are many more criminals on the Internet," says Jürgen Kor, head of cybersecurity at Deutsche Telecom.
Moreover, it cannot go unnoticed that the percentage of companies reporting losses of at least $10 million due to cyberattacks has increased to 51% since 2011. Approximately 7% of respondents to a PwC survey of 9,600 executives from 115 countries responded that their company had been the subject of a cyberattack.
