Matt Hancock, the minister for digital and culture, said students would gain the skills to help keep the UK safe.
The 10-week course has been certified by UK spy agency; GCHQ’s Cyber Retraining Academy and has been created in partnership with cyber-security training firm, SANS Institute which will use advanced psychometric tests to unearth hidden hacking talent in unlikely walks of life, from doctors to soldiers. It will be funded as part of the government's £1.9bn National Cybersecurity Strategy.
The government-backed training programme has been launched in response to the "urgent and immediate demand" for crack cyber defenders across the economy and law enforcement.
The recruits must pass a series of tests before being considered for the boot camp, including a multiple-choice quiz before they can even submit an application. Fifty chosen candidates will then be put through a "birth of fire", which will involve tackling simulated national virus outbreaks and hacking into unmanned airborne drones.
The chosen candidates will then receive a two year intensive cyber security training in 2017 which has been condensed into 10 week course in London.
However, some security experts have raised questions about the need for the course and the intent behind it as they believe that companies won’t be able to trust security consultants who have been approved by GCHQ whereas others are all in for the initiative.
