The cyber security experts of the future gathered today in our Innovation Centre under the watchful eye of two Putney sixth form computer scientists and staff from Putney and other local schools.

Students from Putney’s Year 8 were joined by their peers from Saint Cecilia’s and Southfields Academy to learn more about the issues of security in cyber space and brainstorm everything from firewalls to computer hacking.

The CyberFirst initiative is an annual competition run by the National Cyber Security Centre designed to encourage girls to think about Cyber Security as a possible career path in what is a traditionally male-dominated role. The competition involves online games where students work through puzzles to crack codes and catch the hackers.

We were delighted to be joined by Jon Vogel (GDST Cyber Security Lead) who spoke to students about his 30 year career in the Police and tackling cyber crime.