Teesside University London launches Cyber Security Challenge 2024

Teesside University London hosted its very first Cyber Security Challenge, with IT consultancy Waterstons.

An aim of the challenge, held during Cyber Security Awareness Month, was to provide students with experience of applying the skills they have been developing throughout their course in a real-world setting.

Four student teams, from MSc Information and Cyber Security and MSc Data Science, worked over the course of a week to assess a network for vulnerabilities, created by Waterstons, and then design recommendations. Teams then presented these to a panel of cybersecurity professionals from a range of companies including Google, Plexal and Johnson Matthey.

Ahead of the presentations, the student teams also had the chance to have a cyber consultation with Callum Duncan, Teesside University graduate and founder of Sencode, a cyber security consultancy. This business was developed through the TU Entrepreneurship department, Launchpad.

The judges were really impressed with the students’ commitment, investigations and standard of presentations. Some of the teams had only recently started their MSc, so to enter a competition of this nature was a huge step for them.

The feedback from students was positive, from helping to increase confidence, to providing a new understanding of vastness of the cyber landscape, and an appreciation of the constructive feedback from the judges.

The winning group was Team 5, comprising Andrews Ocran, Japheth Effah, Sasikala Kumaravel, and Muhammad Islam, who are all MSc Information and Cyber Security students.

They have won an Ask the Expert session with the Waterstons cyber consultancy team at the company’s London office with lunch, and funding for globally recognised CCNA certifications worth £300 each and sponsored by the TU Launchpad Enterprise Team.

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