• Teens can learn how to crack codes, fix security flaws and dissect criminals’ digital trails
• Comes as National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) launches CyberFirst summer courses online

Thousands of young people are being offered the chance to join a virtual cyber security school as part of plans to make sure the country develops the next generation of professional cyber defenders.

At a time when schools remain closed to most children, the online initiative aims to inspire future talent to work in the cyber security sector and give students a variety of extracurricular activities to do from the safety of their homes.

Teens can learn how to crack codes, fix security flaws and dissect criminals’ digital trails while progressing through the game as a cyber agent. This will help them develop important skills needed for future jobs, particularly in cyber security.

The school provides free weekly webinars run by industry experts teaching fundamental security disciplines such as digital forensics, cryptography and operating systems.

Digital Infrastructure Minister Matt Warman said:

This new initiative will give teenagers something fun and educational to do from home and provide them with a glimpse into the life of a cyber security professional.

We have a world-leading cyber sector which plays a crucial role protecting the country and our digital economy, so it is absolutely vital we continue to inspire the next generation of tech talent to help maintain the UK’s strong position.

The move comes as the government announces a number of other online training courses to give UK school pupils the opportunity to learn and develop cyber security skills, this includes the launch of the National Cyber Security Centre’s (NCSC) hugely popular CyberFirst summer courses. The courses are moving online this year to help more than a thousand 14 to 17-year-olds develop important cyber skills from home during the coronavirus pandemic.

NCSC Chief Executive Officer Ciaran Martin said:

Technology is helping us all cope with the coronavirus crisis and is playing an essential role in keeping our businesses moving and our society connected.

It has never been more important for our young people to keep engaged and learn how to protect our digital world – and I’m delighted to see our instructor led CyberFirst summer courses made available online.

Enrolled students will learn how to code and carry out cybersecurity operations in an instructor-led virtual classroom to help guide the students through the programme and build a sense of camaraderie within each cohort.

The National Crime Agency and Cyber Security Challenge UK will also this week announce teenagers can access their online cyber skills platform CyberLand for free during the coming months. In the game designed to teach teenagers the fundamentals of cyber security, players protect the virtual city ‘CyberLand’ from cyber attacks while learning key skills.

Deputy Director at the NCA’s National Cyber Crime Unit Jim Stokley said:

Many young people have a keen interest in technology and have developed impressive cyber skills.

The virtual cyber school and CyberFirst programmes are great initiatives which will support this next generation of cyber defenders in realising their potential.

We’ve also partnered with Cyber Security Challenge UK to offer free access to their online platform Cyberland where young people will find games that encourage them to improve cyber skills safely and legally.

Computer science teacher & EdTech evangelist Mark Martin said:

This is a great initiative to encourage young people to consider future careers in cyber security and see that they can have a tech job keeping people safe online.

The virtual cyber school will help students learn valuable skills needed to work in the industry in a fun and entertaining way. I encourage teachers to share these programmes with their students as a productive activity to do in their spare time from home.

Cyber Discovery provider SANS Chief Technology Officer James Lyne said:

Cyber security is a fascinating field packed with opportunities for innovation and to make the online world more secure. It spans every part of society and has a huge role in our future security and technology prospects as a nation.

This is your chance to learn how to ‘forensicate’ like a digital Sherlock Holmes, close down vulnerabilities before the hackers find them, and break codes.

Teachers, parents, students – get online and take advantage of this wonderful opportunity amidst the unique and challenging situation our country faces right now.

CyberFirst provider QA Chairman Sir Charlie Mayfield said:

These initiatives from NCSC and DCMS are set to deliver a great summer of learning for young people across the UK. There is a shortage of digital skills in the UK and the CyberFirst programmes tackle this issue head on – and have the added benefit of keeping young minds active at this difficult time.

The road to the UK’s economic recovery from this pandemic will be built on the skills we learn at this time. That’s why it was critical that initiatives like CyberFirst were pivoted to virtual delivery, so they could go ahead as planned. We are proud to partner with the NCSC to deliver these fully virtual training programmes.

Captain Tom Moore, who has famously raised £30million for the NHS by walking over 100 laps of his garden, has been named a Point of Light winner by Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

The Prime Minister wrote to the inspirational veteran to give him the award and to mark his 100th birthday, one of many accolades Captain Tom, or the newly appointed Colonel Tom, has been given to celebrate his incredible achievement. He has also been appointed as the first Honorary Colonel of the Army Foundation College in Harrogate, re-presented with his Second World War Defence Medal which he had previously misplaced and today, two flypasts took place by Army Air Corps helicopters and the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight.

In his letter to Captain Tom, the Prime Minister said:

Every day, I write to someone in our country to thank them for their service to others and to recognise them as a Point of Light in our lives. No-one epitomises a Point of Light more than you.

You have touched our hearts, lifted our spirits and enabled millions to show their support for the wonderful men and women of our unique NHS. Because of their extraordinary courage and dedication our country will get through this difficult time and, in doing so, fulfil your optimism that tomorrow will indeed be a better day.

Captain Tom is among the first of many neighbourhood heroes to be celebrated by the Points of Light Award scheme. 32-year-old Becky Wass from Falmouth has also been commended by Prime Minister after creating a postcard campaign to safely offer help to vulnerable neighbours during the coronavirus outbreak.

Becky’s postcards allow neighbours to offer support while still socially distancing by buying items for others during essential shopping trips, posting mail during daily exercise sessions, or making a friendly phone call. The design has been downloaded by good Samaritans across the UK and has spread as far as Australia and America with the hashtag #viralkindness.

The Prime Minister praised Becky’s postcards, which also remind people to wash their hands regularly and avoid physical contact, saying:

As we honour the duty we have to each other, to stay at home, protect the NHS and save lives, we can also look out for each other.

Becky’s wonderful initiative is doing exactly that, supporting vulnerable neighbours all over the world. Whether it’s shielding them from social contact by dropping off the shopping or fortifying their spirits with a friendly phone call. It reminds us all that being isolated need not mean being alone.

Reacting to the Prime Minister’s announcement, Becky said:

It’s an honour to have the #viralkindness campaign recognised in this way. It’s been incredible to see the postcard being used throughout the UK and the world by extraordinary volunteers who are helping their communities at this challenging time.

The Prime Minister’s UK daily Point of Light award was first launched in April 2014 to recognise outstanding individuals making a difference in their communities. As Britain unites to fight the spread of coronavirus, the award will focus exclusively on community and national efforts.

Good afternoon, welcome everyone again to this Number Ten press conference where I am joined by Professor Chris Whitty, Chief Medical Officer, and Sir Patrick Vallance our Chief Scientific Advisor

And I am sorry not to have been part of this trio for so long

I want to thank everybody who has been doing such a good job in my absence and

I want to thank the NHS for so much

Including getting me back here and I might add for a much happier hospital visit yesterday

In a few minutes I am going to hand over to Patrick to update you on the epidemic

But first I am going to set out today’s latest data

901,905 tests for coronavirus have now been carried out in the UK, including 81,611 tests yesterday

171,253 people have tested positive, that’s an increase of 6,032 cases since yesterday

15,043 people are currently in hospital with coronavirus, compared to 15,359 people yesterday

And sadly, of those tested positive for coronavirus, across all settings, 26,711 have now died. That’s an increase of 674 fatalities since yesterday across all settings.

This figure of course includes deaths not just in hospitals.

Across this country, therefore, families every day are continuing to lose loved ones before their time

We grieve for them and with them

But as we grieve we are strengthened in our resolve to defeat this virus

To get this whole country back to health, back on its feet

And we are determined urgently and in particular to overcome those challenges that in the last few weeks have been so knotty and so infuriating

I’m not going to minimise the logistical problems we have faced in getting the right protective gear to the right people at the right time, both in the NHS and in care homes

Or the frustrations that we have experienced in expanding the numbers of tests

But what I can tell you is that everyone responsible for tackling these problems whether in

Government or the NHS, or Public Health England, local authorities

We are throwing everything at it, heart and soul, night and day

To get it right – and we will get it right and we are making huge progress

And I will not underrate the work and the achievement of those who are dealing with global shortages, in a global pandemic

They are rising to a challenge we have never seen in our lifetimes

And the same can be said of the entire people of this country Staying in enforced confinement

Not seeing family, not seeing friends or grandchildren

Worrying about their jobs and the future

And so my message to everyone again today is your effort and your sacrifice is working and has been proved to work

Today the number of Covid hospital admissions is falling

The number of patients in ICU is falling

We have so far succeeded in the first and most important task we set ourselves as a nation

To avoid the tragedy that engulfed other parts of the world

Because at no stage has our NHS been overwhelmed

No patient went without a ventilator

No patient was deprived of intensive care

We have five of the seven projected Nightingale wards

And it is thanks to that massive collective effort to shield the NHS that we avoided an uncontrollable and catastrophic epidemic where the reasonable worst case scenario was 500,000 deaths

And so I can confirm today for the first time that we are past the peak of this disease

We are past the peak and we are on the downward slope

And we have so many reasons to be hopeful for the long term

The UK is leading international efforts to find a vaccine

Today Oxford university has announced a partnership with Astrazeneca to develop what they believe could soon be a means of inoculating ourselves against this disease

But until this day comes – and I am afraid we cannot say exactly when it may be

We will have to beat this disease by our growing resolve and ingenuity

So I will be setting out a comprehensive plan next week

To explain how we can get our economy moving, one,

How we can get our children back to school, back into childcare, second, and third how we can travel to work and how we can make life in the workplace safer

And in short how we can continue to suppress the disease and at the same time re-start the economy.

A huge amount of work has been going on on that that plan and as we produce it we are being guided by the science, and we will try to build the maximum political consensus as we produce it across all parties and across the UK

But there will be five key tests that we must satisfy before we can put that plan into action

We must be sure that we can continue to protect the NHS and its ability to cope

We must see a sustained fall in deaths

We must be sure that the infection rate is falling

We must overcome the operational and logistical challenges on testing and PPE

Fifth, and this is the most important, we must all make sure that the measures we take do not risk a second spike that would overwhelm the NHS

We have come through the peak

Or rather we’ve come under what could have been a vast peak

as though we’ve been going through some huge alpine tunnel

And we can now see the sunlight and pasture ahead of us

And so it is vital that we do not now lose control and run slap into a second and even bigger mountain

And so to avoid that disaster our fifth and final test is that nothing as I say we do should lift the R or the reproduction rate of that disease back above one

And before I hand over to Patrick I am going to ask for a short explanatory clip about the one

And before we come to that clip, let me just emphasise that keeping the R down is going to be absolutely vital to our recovery, keeping the reproduction rate of the disease down, and we can only do it by our collective discipline and working together

I know we can do it, because we did it, we’ve shown we can do it, in phase one of this disease

This country came together in a way few of us have seen in our lifetimes

To protect the NHS and to save lives and that’s why I am absolutely convinced we can do it in phase two as well

Can we play the video now.