Leading IT and business consulting services firm CGI, which has offices across the UK including Salford and Liverpool, brought its Cyber Escape experience to Bolton as part of its UK-wide tour. The escape room-style experience gave Bolton businesses and students the opportunity to learn about online security risks in a fun and interactive way.
CGI’s Cyber Escape experience was hosted at The University of Bolton from 25- 29 April. Visitors from across the region teamed up to beat the hacker and learn about cyber security risks and how to avoid them in a fun and interactive way.
The experience is housed inside a shipping container and small groups participate in a short "escape". Teams work together to uncover clues, solve puzzles and accomplish cyber-related tasks to escape successfully in the time allowed. The experience was open to businesses and schools wishing to test their cyber skills to see if they have what it takes to stay safe in our digital world.
Participants learned critical skills in a simulated real-world setting through interactive activities, much like other escape rooms. They learned about everything from how to protect their privacy and create strong passwords, to physical security, device and document handling and navigating social media.
Maxine Bulmer, Vice President Consulting Delivery for Cyber Security for CGI in the UK said: "Cyber security is becoming vitally important for individuals, companies, schools, universities, local and national governments alike. The escape room is designed to drive this message home in a fun and accessible way. We all spend much of our personal and professional lives online and it’s vital that everyone knows how to practice cyber safe techniques and continue to hone existing skills. The experience was designed to showcase the easy ways we can protect ourselves from a number of very real online dangers. While we may be living in a highly computer literate world, the number of data breaches and internet scams we see in the news would suggest that much needs to be done to help people protect themselves in a digital environment. We hope that this experience will offer people a real-world opportunity to learn and engage with safe cyber practices.”
Dr Julian Coleman, Chair of the Committee of Deans and Assistant Vice Chancellor (Academic Operations) at the University of Bolton added: “The experience with CGI was a great way to engage our students and staff in the importance of cybersecurity training. It’s easy to think you know how to be secure in a digital world, but the experience helped to highlight the every day pitfalls we can all fall into regardless of how digitally literate we are, and thus armed attendees with the solutions to avoid them in the future.”
CGI has a growing presence in the North West of England as the region grows its stature as a technology hub amid the Northern Powerhouse project. With a commitment to creating 700 jobs in the UK this year, the organisation continues to focus on encouraging young people into careers in STEM and building a high level of interest in technology through its outreach into schools. During the pandemic the organisation, which focuses heavily on initiatives which have a positive human impact and investing in the communities in which its people live and work, also became known for its STEM from Home initiative. This allowed children to take part in a large number of technology related learning activities whilst restricted to their home environment.
The Cyber Escape experience was developed by CGI's UK Cyber Security practice to train, educate and engage with businesses to help them better understand cyber security risks, complement any existing security awareness training, and increase knowledge of how to reduce the impact of a cyber-attack in a unique way. In conjunction with the organisation's STEM@CGI team, it has tailored the experience for young people too, as they face evolving cyber threats and challenges online.
CGI’s Cyber Escape will be transported around the country to different schools, colleges and businesses for students and staff to participate in their cyber adventure, or arrangements may be made to visit the experience at a CGI location.
To find out more about CGI’s Cyber Escape experience and how you can get involved, visit: https://www.cgi.com/uk/cyberescape
About CGI
Founded in 1976, CGI is among the largest independent IT and business consulting services firms in the world. With 84,000 consultants and professionals across the globe, CGI delivers an end-to-end portfolio of capabilities, from strategic IT and business consulting to systems integration, managed IT and business process services and intellectual property solutions. CGI works with clients through a local relationship model complemented by a global delivery network that helps clients digitally transform their organizations and accelerate results. CGI Fiscal 2021 reported revenue is $12.13 billion and CGI shares are listed on the TSX (GIB.A) and the NYSE (GIB). Learn more at cgi.com.
For more information:
Paul Butler - External Communications Manager
p.butler@cgi.com +44 (0)7920 784199
