BCS Northampton Event: Cyber Security Lecture

Cyber Security Lecture

Scott Bullock 

Cloud Trust Officer

Forcepoint 

Thursday 26th January 2017

7pm with 7:30 

Rm NW205  

University of Northampton

Global Cyber security leader Forcepoint released its 2017 Cyber security Predictions Report last month.

This year's report examines the increasing convergence of the technological and the physical worlds and the long term implications of this new digital ecosystem on organizations and institutions worldwide

Cyber security experts from Forcepoint and Raytheon collaborated to develop these predictions.

Scott Bullock Forcepoint's Cloud Trust Officer will present an overview of the predictions along with an analysis of how well Forcepoint performed last year. Scott is a member of Northampton BCS Group Committee.

Location

Rm 205

Newton Building

University of Northampton

NN2 6JB

All views and opinions are the author's and do not necessarily reflected those of any organisation they are associated with. Twitter: @scottturneruon

Game based cyber security training: are serious games suitable for cyber security training?

• Game based cyber security training: are serious games suitable for cyber security training? (Maurice Hendrix, Ali Al-Sherbaz, Bloom Victoria), In International Journal of Serious Games, volume 3, pp. 53--61, 2016. 

DOI:  http://dx.doi.org/10.17083/ijsg.v3i1.107

Abstract

Security research and training is attracting a lot of investment and interest from governments and the private sector. Most efforts have focused on physical security, while cyber security or digital security has been given less importance. With recent high-profile attacks it has become clear that training in cyber security is needed. Serious Games have the capability to be effective tools for public engagement and behavioural change and role play games, are already used by security professionals. Thus cyber security seems especially well-suited to Serious Games.


This paper investigates whether games can be effective cyber security training tools. The study is conducted by means of a structured literature review supplemented with a general web search.
While there are early positive indications there is not yet enough evidence to draw any definite conclusions. There is a clear gap in target audience with almost all products and studies targeting the general public and very little attention given to IT professionals and managers. The products and studies also mostly work over a short period, while it is known that short-term interventions are not particularly effective at affecting behavioural change.




For more details go to http://journal.seriousgamessociety.org/index.php?journal=IJSG&page=article&op=view&path[]=107


If you'd like to find out more about Computing at the University of Northampton go to: www.computing.northampton.ac.uk. All views and opinions are the author's and do not necessarily reflected those of any organisation they are associated with

BCS Bedford: Cyber Security talk and AGM

An event near Northamptonshire

Keith Clement-Drew from McAfee, to give a talk on "Cyber Security - A McAfee Perspective". 

The internet has become an increasingly important part of our lives, hence more of us are likely to have to deal with potential threats. 

It's free to attend so register via: https://events.bcs.org./book/1213

The talk will be held at the Harpur Suite, Bedford.

2014 AGM
After the talk the Branch 2014 AGM is in the same place.

Investigation and Development of a Networking and Cyber Security Lab

Investigation and Development of a Networking and Cyber Security Lab

Fungai P. Mundoma

Abstract

The world we live in today is centered around computer networks and the internet and until recently, the security vulnerabilities online have not been fully addressed. This project is based on raising the awareness of networking and cyber-security by designing a course structure for this subject as there is a predicted shortage of professionals in this area. Firstly, an investigation was carried out on the existing networks and current trends of cyber- security to get an in depth understanding of how these networks are exploited. The second step was to design a 24 week course structure that would address issues identified in the investigation and ensure students can understand and prevent network exploitation from online attackers. A website has been developed to contain all the study material for students which includes videos and practice questions for better understanding.

An isolated Local Area Network was created in room NW202 as a testing lab for students to practice the material listed in the course. The network was created using a Cisco 2960 series switch and a Cisco ASA 5510 series working as a router and firewall. The firewall implementation was carried out on two different platforms, with the first one being a software firewall used on a virtual network environment and the second one being a hardware firewall implemented in the University lab. A network intrusion detection system has been implemented to demonstrate the importance of enhanced security measures on the network by enabling the detection and monitoring of suspicious network traffic. Another network security measure implemented was the use of a virtual private network (VPN) for users to access internal network services from outside that network but through and approved secure tunnel.

The final part of the project involves performing penetration tests to the LAN. This would uncover any vulnerabilities of the network that could be open and available for exploitation. A step by step procedure has been laid out for students to understand the use and benefits of carrying out penetration test to protect their networks. 

The University of Northampton's, Department of Computing and Immersive Technologies offers five courses within the MSc Computing postgraduate provision (shown below) all available either part-time or full-time. 

• MSc Computing
• MSc Computing (Internet Technology and Security)
• MSc Computing (Computer Networks Engineering)
• MSc Computing (Software Engineering)
• MSc Computing (Immersive Technologies)