The great (cyber) escape

More than 230 University of Sunderland students have put their cyber security skills to the test in a unique ‘Cyber Escape’ experience.

Designed to complement existing security awareness training, the CGI Cyber Escape experience, developed by CGI, one of the largest independent IT and business consulting services firms in the world, is an escape room-style experience, providing employees, students, families and friends with a practical opportunity to improve their knowledge by completing a series of cyber related puzzles and tasks.

Security practices worked on included protecting personal information, creating strong passwords, device and document handling, and navigating social media.

Built inside a shipping container, the CGI Cyber Escape Experience tours the UK providing organisations with security awareness training in a fun and memorable way, while being in a safe environment.

And it was the turn of Sunderland students to beat the hacker when Cyber Escape landed at the University’s St Peter’s Campus for five days earlier this month (November 6^th – 10^th).

Working in teams, students worked against the clock to look for clues, solve puzzles and decipher riddles – all of which were linked to cyber security – to earn their escape.

Professor John Murray, Academic Dean of the University of Sunderland’s Faculty of Technology, said:

“The Cyber Escape Experience provided by CGI was an excellent event that was attended by numerous University students and staff, as well as many local schools.

“It was an opportunity for cyber security enthusiasts to hone their skills, demonstrating how teamwork and lateral logic puzzle thinking can be employed to uncover the solution to escape. Whilst it was a very fun and engaging event, there was a serious educational side to the escape room in demonstrating how resilient we all need to be in keeping an eye on the information we share about ourselves, and being careful about what information we discard that might tell a hacker more about our security credentials than we might think.”

Interim Associate Head of Computing at the University, Paul Graham, added:

“It is very important to raise awareness of the pitfalls of using a computer or mobile device and we need to support our students in being safe whilst online. All the students had a great time and only had positive things to say about the whole experience.”

Maxine Bulmer, Vice President, Cyber Security for CGI in the UK, said

“Our Cyber Escape Experience really helps to educate people on the challenges we all face in a digital world. As experts in this area, CGI are pleased to be able to give back to the wider community by sharing our knowledge and experience in an engaging and memorable way.”

Read more about the CGI Cyber Escape Experience here.