In a symposium at the University of Gloucester’s Park Campus, students, academics and industry professionals gathered to explore risks for businesses in the face of cybersecurity and mitigation tactics.
Principal Cybersecurity Consultant and Technical Services Lead at North Tower Consulting, Vee Gough, discussed the importance of cybersecurity and the response strategies in the case of a breach.
The session, entitled The Perfect Storm, Gough emphasised that cybersecurity is not simply an IT concern, but rather a reputational consideration which can affect revenue and operations directly. It has recently been proven that social engineering and third-part suppliers can bypass technical controls, as seen with breaches impacting Marks & Spencer and Co-op. Effective cybersecurity therefore starts with alignment across people, process and technology.
The symposium amounted to a lively Q&A, prompting strong audience engagement. The discussion led to conversation surrounding career development within the sector and understanding more about structured pathways emerging through frameworks developed by the UK Cyber Security Council.
Course Leader for the Cyber Security Technical Professional Apprenticeship and MSc Cyber Security, Dr Abu Alam reflects on the event:
“This collaboration between academia and a professional body demonstrates the University’s continued commitment to industry engagement, student employability, and real-world learning opportunities in cybersecurity.
“We’d like to thank the British Computer Society, Vee Gough and the students, staff and professionals from industry in attendance who made this such a thought-provoking, informative and engaging event.”
The session included British Computer Society committee member, Nick Parker, and student Mo Seyda, Level 6 Computer Science Course representative.
Events like this highlight how collaboration between universities and industry can help prepare the next generation of cybersecurity professionals to tackle evolving digital threats.
