Last week, Colin was in London to support a team of undergraduates taking part in the Cyber Leaders Challenge. 65 university teams began the journey, with 17 getting through the regional rounds to get to the finals, hosted at the iconic BT Tower.
Day 1 was the quarter finals, with the top 10 going through to the semi-finals. Port Patrol, the team mentored by colin for the last few months, got through and worked into the early hours to prepare their brief and presentation for the judging panel. They then progressed to the final three teams! They received a new scenario and had just 15 minutes (without their mentor) to prepare a brief to deliver to a fictional government COBRA session. The VIP judges included the Dr Mary Haigh, the chief information security officer of BAE, Paul Chichester, the Director of Operations for the National Cyber Security Centre, and Paul Cooper, the former Deputy Director of Cyber Defence at the Cabinet Office who is now Microsoft’s UK and EMEA General Manager for their top 250 clients.
They came third out of the 65 teams and, while all other teams had 4 members, Port Patrol had to do it all with 3 after their 4th member dropped out before the regionals. They were rewarded with future visits to the Financial Conduct Authority, to the Department of Work and Pensions, and to the Department of Science, Innovation, and Technology.
They did amazing. Colin was beyond proud of their achievements and they’re considering going again next year!
