STAFF from Skills Development Scotland (SDS) in the Borders were given the opportunity to enjoy some interactive cyber training thanks to IT and business consulting services company CGI, who brought their innovative Cyber Escape experience to CGI’s offices at Tweedbank for two weeks ahead of Cyber Scotland Week.
The Cyber Escape experience has been safely built within a mobile unit, and provides a ‘unique’ approach to learning about cyber safe practices.
The unit allows for groups of up to six people to test their critical cyber skills in a simulated real-world setting through interactive activities.
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Over the past fortnight the experience has allowed a host of organisations, including SDS, to test their cyber knowledge so that they can continue to act as a ‘human firewall’ protecting their organisation from any attempts by hackers to infiltrate healthcare systems.
For SDS’s Borders staff, the experience provided an opportunity to pass on the importance of this cyber knowledge to the pupils in secondary schools throughout the Borders who they support to build their employability skills and career journey into further learning opportunities and employment.
It is aimed at everyone from schoolchildren to executives so they can learn critical skills in a simulated real-world setting through interactive activities, much like other escape rooms.
This setting allows them to take on board everything from protecting their privacy and creating strong passwords, to physical security, device and document handling and navigating social media – learnt in an enjoyable, interactive way.
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The experience is designed and specially tailored to complement existing security awareness training, giving staff a practical opportunity to test their knowledge with the guidance of cyber security experts from CGI. It will move from the Borders to Edinburgh’s Napier University and then Atlantic Quay in the Scottish capital, in time for Cyber Scotland Week.
John Goodram, Vice President Consulting Services for CGI, said: “The Cyber Escape experience is a vitally important way of educating people to protect themselves. It uses real-world interaction as a way to reinforce the learning it advocates, so that those who take part will learn very quickly and effectively what they need to do to protect themselves from would-be hackers.
“The experience is designed to educate everyone across all sectors of the economy. In today’s world we spend so much of our personal and professional lives online, so we must make sure we have the knowledge to recognise and follow the correct techniques that keep us and our organisations safe. CGI’s Cyber Escape experience has been specially designed to achieve this.”
Claire Gillespie, Sector Manager for Digital Technologies at SDS, said: “Cyber security is an increasing priority for employers of all sizes and across all sectors, forming a fundamental part of their digital skills needs.
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“SDS is working to help employers meet those needs, but as an employer ourselves we also recognise the importance of supporting colleagues to enhance their skills and awareness.
“The CGI Cyber Escape experience is a useful addition to that support, illustrating why so many businesses view this as a priority area.”
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