Visit to Bletchley Park for next generation of Ethical Hackers

Abertay cyber students visit home of codebreaking

The next generation of ethical hackers visited the home of codebreaking as part of a Scottish universities trip to Bletchley Park.

40 students from Abertay’s Department of Cybersecurity and Computing travelled to Buckinghamshire for an interactive learning session and guided tour of the site which was the centre of Allied codebreaking during the Second World War.

The money-can’t-buy experience was arranged through the University’s Department of Cyber Security and Computing and followed on from Abertay being named Cyber University of the Year at the UK Cyber Awards earlier this year.

Students gained range of insights into the vital work of Britain’s codebreakers, as well as the chance to use an authentic Enigma cipher machine and tour the huts in which Alan Turing and other agents of the Ultra intelligence project decoded secret messages.

As part of the trip, which also included students from the University of the West of Scotland, the group also visited the nearby National Museum of Computing, taking part in learning session using BBC microcomputers and viewing the recreated Bombe and Colossus codebreaking machines.

Professor Liz Bacon, Principal and Vice-Chancellor at Abertay University has been a Trustee and Director of Bletchley Park Trust, since 2016.

She said:

Bletchley Park is known as a world-class museum and heritage attraction, but also provides an education programme both on-site and through an outreach programme. Developing an understanding of the history of computing and cybersecurity and its impact on the world is an important part of the student experience at Abertay and the legacy of Bletchley Park provides an excellent opportunity for engagement.