Workshop on cracking passwords teaches pupils all about security

S3 youngsters learn how to stay safe online and given options for a career in digital technology

Fifty pupils from five Tayside and Fife high schools took part in a passwordcracking workshop at Abertay University in Dundee.

The workshop, organised by Skills Development Scotland, aimed to raise awareness about the importance of online security, both for personal safety and as a career option.

During the session, the S3 pupils from St Paul’s Academy, Monifieth High, Carnoustie High, Craigie High and Madras College in St Andrews learned some of the core features of what cyber security professionals do while the team delivered some practical advice on the importance of tough-tocrack passwords.

Students were asked to create “strong” passwords then see evidence of their actual strength before being introduced to tools and techniques aimed at keeping private information secure.

Debbie McCutcheon, digital skills project manager at Skills Development Scotland, said research last year showed more than 13,000 career opportunities in Scotland’s digital technologies with 60% of these jobs outwith traditional technology sectors.

“Basically, we run a four-year programme at SDS and it’s primarily about raising awareness of cyber security jobs and pathways for young people,” she said.

“The added bonus to that is we are getting a lot of young people, making them more cyber resilient, more safe online and making sure they are more aware of things like phishing emails to make them safer.”

Debbie said there’s a massive shortage in Scotland in terms of people who are skilled in cyber.

Ethical hackers are often employed by industry to test the resilience of their cyber security systems.

Craigie High School computing teacher Pauline Cassidy said the workshop at Abertay – which offers a world-leading ethical hacking degree course – helped give pupils an insight into real life events and how it’s practical for their skills to be developed.

“I think kids in general are very savvy about the ‘dos and don’ts’ of things online like not speaking to strangers, ”she said.

“But while we’ve set the foundations of being safe online, society hasn’t really set the foundation yet of being secure online. Even today the kids are struggling with the difference between cyber security and cyber safety. I think that’s something we need to try and develop as pupils are coming from primary school upwards.”

Craigie High pupil Keraleigh Simpson, 14, said she’s learned about cyber security and responsible use of computers at primary school with social education teaching continuing at high school.

“I know it’s easy to be hacked and all that – I just know it’s never happened to me,” she said.

Fellow pupil Lea McLeod, 14, found out the hard way how easy it is for a problem to arise having once accidentally downloaded a computer virus by clicking on a wrong link.

“While we’ve set the foundations of being safe online, society hasn’t really set the foundation yet of being secure online. DEBBIE MCCUTCHEON

Pictures: Dougie Nicolson. Pupils busy at the workshop, including, top, Monifieth youngsters Leah McLeod, left, and Keraleigh Simpson, and Geordie Harrow, from Madras College, above right, and fourth year Ethical Hacking student Michael Kleinman working with Ben Bowman.