In the US, there is a national selection of hackers

In the best traditions of the Higher School of the KGB, the American special services also set hackers against each other to reveal real talents. Only Americans do not conduct secret tests, but an open competition, in which anyone can take part, even a school student with no higher education or a teenager with a criminal background. Just the other day, the first such open championship of the US Cyber ​​Challenge was completed.

All participants competed in the NetWars game. It differs from the famous hacker game Capture the Flag, which is an online analogue of the “king of the hill”, where hackers fight for access to the system, and after capture they must protect it from other applicants.

In NetWars, you need to find the secret key encrypted in the graphic image. The key gives access to the system in which you need to find vulnerabilities and leave your name in files that open only after successful exploits are used.

It was a full-time championship. The winners of qualifying competitions arrived in Washington, held in distance form since June of this year. Each had a sign on the table with his nickname, age and place of residence.
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For many participants in the competition, cooperation with the state is the only alternative to crime, because their skills and knowledge can only be used in one way. And only at such a competition can they demonstrate their skills openly, without fear of being prosecuted.

In America, it is customary to trust young people with the most important tasks. For example, during the Apollo 17 mission, the average age of the flight control center staff was only 26 years old. So even young hackers can expect to receive the most important tasks, such as the defense of the energy infrastructure. In total, US intelligence agencies plan to invite up to 10,000 cyber security experts to work. Now there are only a thousand, and the Americans do not yet know where to find qualified specialists in such numbers.

via CNN