UK military may hire hackers for digital army

Just last month we reported on how the British military was set to invest as much as £500 million into a new digital strike force, that would recruit security professionals and graduates to a scheme that would not only be set to defend the UK's online interests, but be able to dish out some digital damage too. Whether because of not-enough applicants, or the Ministry of Defence (MOD) wanting the best men and women for the job, it's revealed that it has no problem taking on ex-hackers.

This announcement was made by new head of the Joint Cyber Reserve Unit, Lieutenant Colonel Michael White, who said: “If they could get through the security process, if they had the capability that we would like, and if the vetting authority was happy, then why not.”

I would take the job if it meant I got to be any of these things

He did say however, that not everyone would be applicable. Likewise though, there would be no criminal threshold that would bar someone from being able to take on the position; ultimately it would be handled on a case by case basis. “The conviction would be examined in terms of how long ago it was, how serious it was, what sort of sentence had followed. So I can't rule it out,” he said.

As pointed out by David Day, computer forensics expert at Sheffield Hallam University, hackers are some of the best experts on digital security and should not be ignored as a potential recruiting pool.

KitGuru Says: While it seems unlikely that the army would appeal to someone that was a member of a hacking counter-culture, perhaps if you were considering turning white-hat, a job as part of a military hacking team might seem too good to pass up. [Thanks Independent]

PS. Have you seen the pool on the roof?

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