The 'brightest and best' 18 year olds would be considered for cyber training.
The cyber industry could receive a surprising boost in talent, if the Conservative Party win the upcoming election.
After leader Rishi Sunak announced the UK’s general election would take place on 4th July, days later he announced the plan to operate a form of national service would operate for 18 year old people in the UK.
Bring People Together
The concept of national service would see young people brought together, and out of a “digital bubble or a social bubble.”
Home Secretary James Cleverley told BBC News: "We want to get back to a situation where young people are mixing with people - in different areas, different economic groups, different religions - to try and find a way of addressing the kind of fragmentation that we see too much of.”
Some of those volunteers would see 30,000 selective military placements, where "the brightest and best" would get involved in cybersecurity, logistics, or civil response operations for a full year.
The national service scheme would compel people, by law, to complete a community programme over a 12-month period: or enrol in a year-long military training scheme, when they turn 18.
With around 800,000 18-year-olds in the UK, only one in 26 would do a military placement, and the vast majority would instead do community volunteering.
The use of the term ‘volunteering’ suggests there is no payment for the work done, but the Conservatives said possible incentives for people who do the armed forces placements may include "fast tracked interviews" for graduate schemes in the private and public sector.
Written by
Dan Raywood
Senior Editor
SC Media UK
Dan Raywood is a B2B journalist with more than 20 years of experience, including covering cybersecurity for the past 16 years. He has extensively covered topics from Advanced Persistent Threats and nation-state hackers to major data breaches and regulatory changes.
He has spoken at events including 44CON, Infosecurity Europe, RANT Conference, BSides Scotland, Steelcon and ESET Security Days.
Outside work, Dan enjoys supporting Tottenham Hotspur, managing mischievous cats, and sampling craft beers.
