Commonwealth Bank today awarded the 2016 CommBank Cyber Prize to the top cyber security students in Australia.

Now in its second year, the CommBank Cyber Prize seeks to attract young Australians in the field of Computer Science to choose subjects and careers in cyber security, and to support educators that offer learning pathways into the field.

The prize is awarded to the top students enrolled in university degrees or subjects deemed critical to meeting the needs of Australia’s future cyber security workforce. 

Participating universities include UNSW, University of Sydney, Monash University, RMIT, and Edith Cowan University, with eight recipients receiving a prize this year – up from six in 2015.

Recipients were awarded a cash prize and the opportunity to tour CBA’s Cyber Security Centre and be mentored by cyber security professionals.

“Commonwealth Bank views cyber security as a shared responsibility for all participants in the digital economy, and has invested in initiatives like the CommBank Cyber Prize to raise the bar for security more broadly”, David Whiteing, CIO, Commonwealth Bank.

“Australia’s cyber security skills shortage requires industry and academia to come together with common purpose.”

Commonwealth Bank has made several contributions to addressing the skills shortage, including the CommBank Cyber Prize, sponsorship of the Australian Government’s Cyber Security Challenge and programs that aim to attract more women into the cyber security discipline (Access for Women), and the delivery of guest lectures at Universities around Australia.

Commonwealth Bank has also invested more than $1.6 million in sec.edu, a five-year commitment to developing a centre of excellence for cyber security education at the University of New South Wales.

“The sec.edu partnership aims to boost the nation’s reserve of highly-trained security professionals, and address the shortage of teachers available to teach these subjects”, Whiteing said.

CBA also offers cyber awareness education and training for all employees and works closely with a range of government and community partners to raise online safety and privacy awareness among parents and children through a partnership with the ThinkUKnow program.