FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Registration for SPARC is possible at SPARC onboarding events in various regions of Switzerland. The exact dates of the onboarding events can be found on the website under Events. A valid ID or passport (driver's license is not permitted) and the AHV number are mandatory for registration.

A valid ID or passport (driver's licence is not allowed) and the AHV number are absolutely required to register.

The onboarding events are continuously posted on our website under Events. Advance registration is always mandatory.

You can reach the SPARC platform via the yellow button “Login” on the SPARC website (top right).

A new registration letter must be created and sent to you. You can order this yourself directly at https://idp.viam.admin.ch/selfadmin/newletter?login&language=de.

No, you must register for an onboarding event on the website under Events and register in person on site.

No, the registration process must be completed on site with a valid ID or passport (driver's license is not permitted) and the correct AHV number. You will have to sign up for another onboarding event. These can be found on our website under Events.

The SPARC program is freely available to Swiss citizens between the ages of 16 and 19. The SPARC learning content has been specially tailored to our target group to enable young interested and talented people to enter an exciting professional field and to prepare them optimally for the Swiss Armed Forces' cyber course. If you are interested in career options or training and further education in the field of cyber in the Swiss Armed Forces, we therefore recommend that you take a closer look at the ICT Warrior Academy and Cyber Battalion 42 website.

In principle, participation is possible. It is important to mention that registration (onboarding) is necessary on site and a registered letter must be sent to a Swiss address. In order to successfully complete the SPARC program, participation in an experience day is mandatory. These take place on site in all larger regions of Switzerland.

Yes, people with special needs can also take part in the SPARC program. These cases are discussed on an individual basis to ensure a holistic participation. You can contact info@sparc-cyberdefence.ch directly to discuss your situation.

Personal data is collected for verification when entering the program and then saved on the Swiss Armed Forces access system. The physical documents are then destroyed. During the SPARC program, the registered people are identified using a pseudonym.

• You have Swiss citizenship.
• You are at least 16 years old (at the time of registration).
• You have a good command of English (the course language is English).
• You have access to a laptop, notebook or PC.

The name is a neologism derived from the English term sparkling. The goal of the program is to discover uncut gems. However, these are not brought to light, but are trained covertly to be able to guarantee their own and Switzerland's cyber security.

The maximum training period is four years. However, this is individual per person, since the learning progress determines the duration.

English is standard in cyber security. Accordingly, all learning content and experience days are designed in English. The onboarding events, on the other hand, take place in the respective national languages.

The effort is individually depending on the person and their IT knowledge. The program is completed entirely in your free time.

The SPARC program is developed and built up by three private companies, but is financed by the Swiss Armed Forces. The selected solution allows the strengths of the Swiss Armed Forces and the strengths of a civilian partner to combine in training. This makes it possible to closely follow the rapid development of the cyber area and to offer young cybertal talents in all language regions of Switzerland.

The exams will take place online. As SPARC is still under development, the exams are not yet available. Have a look at our roadmap where we will keep you up to date on the SPARC development.

You can adapt this to your personal information on the platform via My Account. We recommend that you adapt this as soon as you are on the platform. This is explained in more detail in the first course Discover The Cyber ​​World (1010).

The SPARC program is fully free. For the journey to experience days (presence learning events), a daily halftax can be applied for up to a week before the experience day at cyber.fub@vtg.admin.ch.

Anonymity, privacy and, as it is called in the world of cyber security, operational security, are essential for working in the cyber sector of the Swiss Armed Forces, as well as in the cyber industry. The SPARC program protects the privacy of SPARC participants in this way, and the operational security skills that SPARC teaches are an integral part of the training.

The exams can be repeated once. The learning controls within the modules on the SPARC platform can be repeated as often as you like.

After successful completion of the SPARC program, a certificate is issued. This confirms participation and successful completion, but as SPARC is still under construction, the final certificate is not yet available. Take a look at our roadmap to find out about the current status and our goals.

In any case! The aim of the SPARC program is also a community in the area of ​​cyber security by young interested parties. The SPARC program provides a community platform. However, keep in mind that you interact under your hackername and do not share any personal information.

The SPARC program is still under construction. The course content will be added on an ongoing basis over the coming months. To keep you up to date, take a look at our roadmap. Here we provide updates on our goals for SPARC.

As soon as more content is published on the platform, the skip-test will also become available. Until then, the explorer modules are mandatory for everyone.

In any case! Since the program is currently under construction, SPARC cannot be completed before entering the recruit school. In this case, participation and existing ratings will be forwarded.

Registered people are continuously informed on the SPARC platform about future experience days.

The experience days are carried out in larger Swiss cities of all language regions.

The details of the experience days are published on the SPARC platform. Information on registration is scattered via the various communication channels.

In order to deepen the knowledge you have learned and to promote an exchange among the participants, experience days are carried out in all Swiss regions. The participants take part in workshops which cover other topics of cyber security and solve challenges together as a team. The experience days are supplemented by input departments by experts from the industry.

The community platform is available to all SPARC participants via the SPARC platform.

No, by successfully completing the SPARC program you can skip selection 1 of 2 of the cyber course, but only those who pass selection 2 can be admitted to the cyber course. Please note that SPARC is still under construction and it is not yet possible to complete the entire program. Check our roadmap to find out when you can expect to be able to complete the SPARC program.

Yes, but it is strongly recommended that all those interested in the cyber course complete the SPARC program beforehand. It prepares you perfectly for the cyber course and increases your chances.

At the start of recruit school, you must register your interest in the cyber course with your superior and inform them that you would like to take part in the selection. If you do not receive any information after 2 weeks, you can contact cyber.fub@vtg.admin.ch with your request.

We definitely recommend that you sign up for SPARC, even if you can't complete all the courses you will learn a lot that will help you with the selection and the cyber course.

SPARC must be completed before entering recruit school. As the program is currently under construction, it may not be possible to complete SPARC in full before entering recruit school. In this case your participation and existing assessments will be forwarded to the RS for you.

SPARC teaches you everything from the basics to advanced knowledge, both technically and methodically, via its e-learning content and the experience days that you attend in person, to prepare you for the selection and the cyber course.

To be able to log in to Threema again, it is important that you know your Threema Safe password.

• You set this password when you first initialized Threema.
• If you no longer have your Threema Safe password, you need to contact info@sparc-cyberdefence.ch by email and create a new Threema account. If you know your Threema Safe password, follow these steps:
• Log in to the SPARC platform
• Go to My Account and find the Threema Sign Up Link field
• The string contains your current Threema login and password
• Log in to Threema with these login details and select Restore from Backup in the next step
• Now you can enter your Threema Safe password and restore your Threema account

In this case, it is no longer possible to restore your Threema account. As soon as you lose your smartphone, have a new smartphone, or log out of Threema, you will lose access. In this case, you need to contact info@sparc-cyberdefence.ch and we can create a new account for you.

There may be several reasons for this. Try the following steps to solve your problem:

• Multiple V-Login profiles If you are not redirected directly to the SPARC platform after scanning the QR code, but to another V-Login page where you can select your profile, please try all profiles.
• The best way to do this is in an incognito tab of your browser.
• Once you know which profile works, make a note of it and delete the browser data and cookies and try logging in again in a normal browser window with the profile you have identified.
• If you only have one profile and the error message appears immediately after scanning the QR code, delete the browser data and cookies and try again.
• If neither works, please contact Threema support or send an email to info@sparc-cyberdefence.ch so that we can help you.

In this case you must contact the V-Login support and explain the issue they can delete the old account for you: +41 58 465 22 22 oder via Email unter service-desk.fub@vtg.admin.ch

To use V-Login on a new smartphone, you need a new registration letter. You can order this yourself at this link: https://idp.viam.admin.ch/selfadmin/newletter?login&language=de It is important that you follow the following steps exactly:

• Open V-Login on your old smartphone
• Click on the cogwheel at the top right and go to Accounts
• Delete the account on your old smartphone
• Now you can register your V-Login on your new smartphone with your new registration letter
• If you no longer have access to your old smartphone, you must contact V-Login support and explain the problem. They can delete the old account for you: +41 58 465 22 22 or by email at service-desk.fub@vtg.admin.ch

In this case, you will need a new registration letter. You can order this yourself at this link: https://idp.viam.admin.ch/selfadmin/newletter?login&language=de

Now you can login on the SPARC platform! To do this, you can click on Login here on the SPARC website and log in with your V-Login. Next, we advise you to complete the two introductory courses 1010 and 2010. Here you will learn everything you need for your SPARC journey.

SPARC uses Threema for communication.

• Here you can get information about events, new courses, system outages or maintenance windows.
• SPARC Support is available via Threema to help you and answer your questions
• SPARC uses Threema to identify you at events and to perform check-in and check-out.
• You can use Threema to stay in touch with SPARC participants.

You should set your hacker name as soon as you can log on to the SPARC platform. Why?

• SPARC does not hold any personal information about you, which means that we can only identify and assign you by your hacker name
• The SPARC team and the other participants want to be able to address you and not have to call you Default
• The use of a pseudonym and the careful handling of personally identifiable data is an integral part of cyber.