Cyber Scotland Week: Students and staff get free online data check

Jessica can’t believe it. Her passwords could take scammers just one week to crack, according to MSc Cyber Security student Nnamdi Nwosu. He immediately suggests some steps she could take to better protect herself online.

Nnamdi is part of a group of students from the University's cyber security programmes giving fellow students and staff a free personal data health check as part of Cyber Scotland Week.

The students are running a version of their annual Cyber Clinic to support and raise awareness of cyber security on campus. The clinic is running until Thursday from 10am to 3pm on the ground floor of the Sir Alex Ferguson Library.

Students and staff have been dropping by to test if their emails or mobile numbers have already been subject to a data breach, or to test the strength of their passwords and find out how quickly they could be hacked.

Nnamdi said: “Information and data are the equivalent of gold these days, so it’s very important these things are safeguarded. There are people out there who want to steal your data for financial gain, or destroy your data for political reasons. That’s why, this week, we are helping people to secure any devices they have that hold data. We are employing a bit of software that uses a QR code reader to assess vulnerabilities and also to inform people if any of their personal data is already out there on the dark web. We have surprised quite a few people already, but everybody has taken something from us that has made them just that little bit safer online.”

The University's Head of Cyber Security and Networks, Dr Jackie Riley, said: “It is great to see the students out of the classroom and the security labs, meeting people and applying their knowledge. The Cyber Clinic is about helping, in line with the University's Common Good commitment, and it enables our students to sharpen their communication skills.

“The Cyber Clinic is meeting a genuine need. Often people don't really know what they should ask – our students and staff are no different – and so this gives them an opportunity to come and have a chat and learn for our student experts.

“People can be very vulnerable – by simply going online to shop, or by using social media to keep in touch with grandkids, when they don't fully understand what they are doing or their privacy and security settings, that's what criminals can prey on. We help them stay safe and, in turn, they share what they have learned with friends and family and that ripple effect ultimately helps to improve the country's cyber resilience.”