Event Gets Computing Students Thinking Like Hackers

Students at the University of Worcester have been putting their cybersecurity and coding skills to the test with the return of the Hackathon; a hands-on event featuring real-world computer challenges.

It's a regular event at the University of Worcester for students studying computing and cybersecurity and has become a highlight of the calendar for the Department of Computing.

Held in the University's purpose-built Cyber Lab, a closed-network room where students can learn about hacking in a safe way, challenges included finding passwords in code, looking at how websites send information, and uncovering sensitive data.

Will Cawdell is a Technical Specialist at the University and oversaw the day's hacking.

"In the past, the challenges were very command-line based, which is great for cybersecurity students but not so accessible for others," said Will. "This year, we've shifted to tasks like spotting hidden passwords in code, which opens it up to more of our computing students."

Will said the new format makes it easier to tailor the experience for the students.

"The activities are tuneable," he said. "We can hide the more complex challenges so younger students or less experienced participants aren't overwhelmed. It means everyone can get involved, not just those already familiar with hacking tools."

The Hackathon, while being a lot of fun, prepares students for the scenarios and challenges they'll face in the real world when they begin their careers.

"The style of the Hackathon really emulates how they'll work in the real world," said Will. "Whether they're working in cybersecurity or in any kind of computing job, they'll need to know how to research, interpret information, and then apply it."

Will continued: "It's not about having all of the answers, or about memorising everything, it's about knowing what to do when you don't know what to do, and where to go for the answers."

From early on in the day, there was a great buzz in the room, with students gathered around monitors discussing the problems in front of them.

Carolina Furtado, currently completing her Master's in Computer Science said: "It's quite intuitive and fun! The first few challenges have been easy, but I don't know as much about coding as the others so we're working together. It's helping my understanding of computing, using simple inputs to give me the information I'm looking for."

Clara Day, Computer Science student explained what they were doing on a particular challenge: "The screen full of data may look intimidating, but all that it's doing is searching through a set of files that we've given it, and it's looking for every mention of the word 'password'."

"I'm in my third year, and I'm leaning more towards software now," said Clara. "I've got modules on cybersecurity, so this work actually goes towards my course as well."

Find out more about studying computing at the University of Worcester