UK to give teens after school cyber security classes to combat online attacks

Britain has planned to give after school cyber security training to thousands of teenagers in order to protect the country from online attacks.

The government says it has earmarked 20 million pounds (USD 25 million) for a Cyber Schools Program, due to start in September.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport said on Saturday that it hopes almost 6,000 students aged 14 to 18 will complete the extracurricular course by 2021 and that many will go on to cyber security careers.

Culture Minister Matt Hancock said the “these extracurricular clubs will help identify and inspire future talent.”

Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee said last week that Britain’s electronic spy agency, GCHQ, dealt with 200 cyber-attacks a month in 2015, double the number in 2014.

The committee said skills shortages are undermining Britain’s ability to block cyber-attacks.