Inverness College UHI students to get a lesson in how to foil the cyber criminals

Students on a range of courses at Inverness College UHI are to be taught cyber security skills as part of a drive to make Scotland one of the world's most cyber resilient nations.

Together with fellow University of the Highlands and Islands partners Lews Castle College and West Highlands College, it is one of 10 Scottish further education establishments which has signed up to deliver a new cyber security module which will be incorporated into a range of non-technology courses.

Developed by Skills Development Scotland (SDS) in partnership with Dundee and Angus College, the course will result in more than 500 students a year leaving further education in Scotland with a recognised cyber qualification.

The new course was launched to coincide with CyberScotland Week and will see the likes of trainee beauty therapists, farmers, joiners, hairdressers, nursery staff, sports professionals, teachers and even language learners study cyber security as part of their wider course.

By targeting students that study non-tech subjects, SDS and the Scottish Government hope to equip people with the cyber skills necessary to better protect themselves and their employers or businesses online.

Scotland's finance and economy minister and Highland MSP Kate Forbes said: "The pilot was delivered as part of the implementation of our Strategic Framework for a Cyber Resilient Scotland. The fast-paced digital transformation of the world we live in means that cyber resilience is no longer just the responsibility of technology specialists or IT departments. And it's not just big companies that get hacked. Any organisation that uses online digital technology can be at risk.

“We can never guarantee protection from all types of cyber attack, but this project will help to increase future workers’ knowledge and skills to withstand and reduce the risk and impact of security breaches.”

Dundee and Angus College developed the course after falling victim to a hack in 2020, and immediately saw the benefit of teaching non-tech students about this growing tech-driven threat.

The college's head of computing, James Oliver, said: “The attack we suffered was devastating. Hackers demanded the entire contents of our bank account to release student work and teaching plans. We effectively had to rebuild our IT systems from scratch. By making sure as many people as possible are aware of cyber security basics, we hope to stop others from experiencing what is a distressing and expensive risk to any organisation whether large or large or small, commercial or charity.

“The student feedback on the pilot showed they had a positive and enjoyable experience, and perception of cyber security had changed. Students really valued the new subject, and could understand the application to their own circumstances.”