“In Sweden today there is a great shortage of people with expertise in cybersecurity. Through this initiative we hope to spark an interest among young people to choose this career and thereby help create solutions to our society’s digitalisation challenges,” says Ulf Larsson, Chief Security Architect.
The European Cyber Security Challenge is an initiative from ENISA, the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity. The aim is to bring together young talents from throughout Europe for a fun and competitive event focusing on cybersecurity.
The national trials for a training camp were held at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in cooperation with organisations with ties to government operations, including the National Defence Radio Establishment (FRA), the Swedish Armed Forces, Research Institutes of Sweden (RISE), the National Cybersecurity Centre (NCSC), and industry partners such as SAAB, ACNR, Combitech, NIXU and the cybersecurity firm Cparta, which have played a prominent role in the project.
During the five-day training camp, more than 30 participants will be coached and tested to see who will be included in the national team that will represent Sweden in the final, which will be held in Vienna in September. The team will be composed of five members aged 16–19 and five aged 19–25.
SEB is one of three main sponsors and will participate at the training camp with speakers who will explain SEB’s work with cybersecurity and describe the expertise that is needed within the bank. SEB will also send two employees, Johan Andersson and Gabriel Appelkvist, to participate at the camp to listen and learn.
“We see this as an important opportunity to gain exposure and put SEB on the radar among those seeking a career in cybersecurity. We want to attract the best talents,” says Matilda Nordquist, who works in Employer Branding, HR.
The effort is part of a broader initiative to increase the bank’s attractiveness in the field of cybersecurity. Toward this end, SEB has also signed a cooperation agreement with SEC-T, the largest cybersecurity conference in Sweden, which will be held in September at Münchenbryggeriet in Stockholm.