GCHQ in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire Ministry of Defence/Wikipedia

There was a time when graduates were ushered into a room, or received a mysterious phone call, enquiring if they would like to work for their country. Now, sign up to one of the six GCHQ-approved Master's degrees in cyber security just announced, and your chances of becoming a crack spy will improve greatly.

The announcement was made by Francis Maude, Minister for the Cabinet Office, and names Edinburgh Napier University, Lancaster University, University of Oxford, Royal Holloway, University of London, Cranfield University and University of Surrey as the academic centres that will train future sleuths.


Of course other universities will provide similar training.

However, the Master's at these six have been given the stamp of approval by GCHQ, after institutions across the country were asked to apply for agency certification. Government bodies, academics and cyber security experts were all consulted to decide upon the final six.

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"Cyber Security is a crucial part of this government's long term plan for the British economy," said Maude, speaking from GCHQ's base. "We want to make the UK one of the safest places in the world to do business online. Through the excellent work of GCHQ, in partnership with other government departments, the private sector and academia, we are able to counter threats and ensure together we are stronger and more aware."

As Maude mentions, the opportunities are not just at GCHQ, but in the private sector. BT Security's Mark Hughes notes: "The fact that GCHQ recognises these courses as high calibre gives us, at BT, the confidence that those graduating with a Master's from one of these universities will have the sound knowledge base in Cyber Security that we would be looking for."

There will be plenty more chances for universities to apply for the certification, and a new round will begin later in 2014. Deputy Director for the National Technical Authority for Information Assurance at GCHQ Chris Ensor said: "I'd also encourage those that didn't quite make it this time around to reapply in the near future, especially as we start to focus on more specialised degrees." The degrees that have so far received the go ahead range from digital forensics (Edinburgh) to Software and Systems Security (University of Oxford), while the two awarded provisional status, Cranfield University and the University of Surrey, offer Cyber Defence and Information Assurance and Information Security, respectively.


It's worth noting that although Ensor said this is the first step to recognising "Academic Centres of Excellence in Cyber Security Education (ACEs-CSE)", these centres already exist. Aside from the universities already mentioned, the following have been awarded ACEs-CSE status: University of Bristol, Imperial College London, University College London, Queen's University Belfast, University of Southampton, University of Birmingham, University of Cambridge and Newcastle University.

These centres were announced early on when the government's cyber strategy was first stepped up from 2012. We are now seeing the fruits of that effort.

It's not the first time GCHQ has been part of a concerted effort to recruit more hackers. The fifth GCHQ and industry-backed Cyber Security Challenge UK took place earlier this year, in an effort to recruit talent from any and all backgrounds.