鈥淣ormally when you鈥檙e at a party and you say you work with computers, people鈥檚 eyes glaze over,鈥� says Ross McKerchar, who works for antivirus software firm Sophos in Abingdon, Oxford. But if you work in cyber-security, it鈥檚 more likely to be the other way around, as everyone has a story about when their computer was attacked by a virus. McKerchar, who studied computer science at the University of Edinburgh, protects Sophos鈥檚 database from thousands of cyber-attacks every year.
It may sound like a line from a cheesy Bruce Willis movie, says McKerchar, but it is impossible to overstate the threat that cyberspace attacks pose to everyday life. 鈥淎 lot of people think it doesn鈥檛 matter if their computer gets a virus,鈥� he says. 鈥淲hat they don鈥檛 realise is that a virus can steal your bank details, hijack your identity and use your computer as a base to attack other websites.鈥�
Sophos is particularly at risk of attack. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a kudos factor associated with successfully attacking a firm that makes security software,鈥� says McKerchar. 鈥淪o it鈥檚 critical that we keep our system extremely secure, particularly as an attacker could use us as a stepping stone to break into our customers鈥� systems.鈥� To do this, he monitors programs as they scan the system looking for breaches. 鈥淭here are just too many viruses for one person to kill whack-a-mole style, which is why these programs are critical,鈥� he says.
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When he鈥檚 not fighting viruses, McKerchar is ramping up Sophos鈥檚 defences against future attacks. He reads security bulletins to find out about 鈥渂reaking鈥� viruses and makes sure that the software that combats the virus is in place before it has a chance to attack. 鈥淲e have to be proactive because the bad guys are very creative and keep raising the game.鈥�
A big plus is that the industry is growing and jobs are plentiful, says McKerchar. The number of vacancies in cyber-security increased by 53 per cent in the second half of 2009 alone, according to a by recruitment company Barclay Simpson. In fact, the industry is so desperate to recruit that the UK recently launched the Cyber Security Challenge, a tournament designed to identify talented amateurs and catapult them into the industry. Competitors must identify security flaws on a dummy website and defend a database from hackers in real time. The winner will get a place on a masters course in electronics and security at Queen鈥檚 University Belfast. McKerchar has signed up for fun. 鈥淚鈥檓 looking forward to rolling up my shirt sleeves and checking out the competition,鈥� he says.