‘Israel’s 10th-grade anti-cyberterrorists’

“With double the number of scientists and engineers per capita compared to the US and 10 times more active-duty soldiers relative to its total population, Israel already has impressive human capital in scientific fields such as cybersecurity. But now it is also tapping everything from high school classrooms to venture capital firms to extract cream-of-the-crop cyber experts, hone their skills and ideas, and fund their development.”
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Quality can matter more than quantity in the cyber battlefield, “where a team of pony-tailed hackers fueled by pizza, Coke, and plum salaries may be enough to design major attacks or help bolster US defenses against them.”
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‘The IDF sends select soldiers to universities such as BGU for specialized training, especially in the sciences. But given the urgent need for talent, the IDF launched a special program three years ago to identify exceptionally qualified high school students and begin their cybersecurity training as early as 10th grade. Currently 200 students are enrolled in the program, but graduates have so outperformed their peers in the IDF that commanders are clamoring for more. So this year the program will double in size, and the IDF hopes to see 1,000 students involved within two years.”

http://www.jewishworldreview.com/0813/cybersecurity_education.php
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