Schoolchildren in England will be offered lessons in cyber security in a bid to find the experts of the future to defend the UK from attacks. It is hoped 5,700 pupils aged 14 and over will spend up to four hours a week on the subject in a five-year pilot.
Classroom and online teaching, "real-world challenges" and work experience will be made available from September.
A Commons committee last week warned that a skills shortage was undermining confidence in the UK's cyber defences. The risk that criminals or foreign powers might hack into critical UK computer systems is now ranked as one of the top four threats to national security.
