An example of the importance of cyber security, the Australian government is running a competition for hackers and this year the University of New England will enter a team for the first time.

Lecturer in computational science and team leader David Paul said cyber security is largely overlooked.

“People want something that works and they only think about when it’s being used properly,” he said.

“Especially with the Internet of Things, when we start connecting everything to the internet there are problems there.”

The Internet of Things refers to everyday devices, such as washing machines or tractors, that are connected to the internet and are able to send and receive data.

An increasing market, manufacturers are yet to catch up with the security risks posed by appliances linked to personal or company networks.

“A lot of problems with these companies are that they’re experts in creating their devices but they aren’t necessarily experts in security,” Dr Paul said.

“Any weakness allows you to get further into the network – that’s why companies will hire what are called ‘White Hat Hackers’ to break into a system with permission and identify any weaknesses or issues that need to be fixed.”

The Cyber Security Challenge is a 24-hour competition.

The team will be sent an Internet of Things hardware device and will need to use it to break into a network.

They will then need to write a report explaining the weakness and how it can be fixed, understandable to a non-professional.

Dr Paul said there is a shortage of cyber security professionals and these competitions are aimed at sparking interest with university students.

“Doing well in a competition like this is certainly something you could put on your resume, companies are crying out for experts in this area,” he said.

The competition will take place over May 10 and 11 online at UNE.