What's happened?
It's hacked into our mainframe.
They're going to have control in a matter of minutes.
The whole nation's security is at risk.
OK, I'll make the call.
(PHONE RINGS) (SIGHS)
Who is this? The system, it's been hacked.
On my way.
I don't... Step aside, I've got this.
AMELIA: OK, so being in the cyber security business
is probably not as dramatic as this...
So, how do I get rid of that?
Well, have you tried turning it off and on again?
Oh. Oh, of course.
But it really is all about protecting the security and privacy of people,
businesses, even governments from the bad guys online.
NEWSREADER: Cybercrime is booming.
NEWSREADER: About the risks of cyber attacks.
Hacks happen every day, all around the world.
The ones we hear about most are done by black-hat hackers.
They know a lot about computer systems and software
and they use their skills to break in,
so they can steal, change or destroy information.
They can do stuff like disrupt or shut down important websites,
steal personal details, share secret documents
or take control of accounts.
But did you know that hackers can also be the good guys?
Ethical or white-hat hackers are people who know how to hack,
but they use their talents for good.
With their knowledge and skills,
they can protect systems from bad hackers,
investigate hacks that have already happened
and work out if security systems are good enough
by testing if they can hack them.
The thing that interests me about cyber security
is you have to take something someone's already built up
and you have to, basically, put yourself in their frame of mind
about how they would have written that kind of thing
and figure out how to break it.
You need the mindset of someone...
These IT students are wannabe white-hat hackers
and once they've learnt the skills they need,
they're going to be in high demand.
Australia's government says it needs good hackers
to help keep information safe
and even to do super-secret spy things
for its intelligent agencies.
But big businesses need these skills too.
Recently, Google announced it wanted to hire Australia's best hackers
to keep the search engine,
which is used by more than 1 billion people, secure.
We're looking for people who are smart,
who somehow would want to think like a hacker and break systems,
but ultimately want to make software more secure for people.
But cyber security whiz is still a pretty new job description,
but changes as technology does.
And experts are already worried
Australia doesn't have enough good hackers to go round.
So they say we need more young people to think about studying hacking
and cyber security.
And universities are still trying to work out the best ways
to teach students to do that.
Yeah, we want someone who is reflective and analytical,
rather than...
But experts say you're never too young to learn how to hack.
It doesn't matter how old you are, but try to do something early on,
see if you like it and, yeah, happy hacking.
So kids might eventually help save us all with their super cyber skills.
And shut down.
Your system is secure.
(GIRLS SIGH WITH RELIEF)
HACKER: Oh, man. Oh, well, maybe next time.