So for my first blog, I decided that I would talk a bit about me and my course. My name is Scott Dewson, I'm 23 years old and I'm studying Computer Security and Forensics (CSF) for the second year. I am a big gamer (both board and computer) and I am usually terrible at both. The time that's not spent studying or gaming is usually taken up by my role as a Squadron Commander within the Air Cadets.
The course that I'm taking is very relevant to what's happening in the world at the moment. For those of you who aren't up to date with what's going on in cyber security, I'll give you a quick overview. The UK are attacking China, China are attacking North Korea, North Korea are shaking their fists at everyone, Russians are attacking Russia, Russia is also attacking anything that moves, and everyone is attacking the US. Looks like a messed-up war zone don't you think? Well, it is. It may not seem it on the surface, or even publicly, but war is moving from the battle-ground to cyber-space. This is where the CSF students come in. We will eventually move into one of two areas, either the protection (Security) or the investigation (Forensics) sectors. With the protection we will be testing defences, and fixing holes before malicious attackers can exploit them. With investigating, we will be doing a post-mortem on attacks to figure out what happened and how it was conducted.
So why did I choose this course? Because of how awesome the technology is, how interesting the subject is, and that the future of computing rests completely on the future of this area of study and the people studying it. Without people defending computers from attacks and malicious uses, computers would not be safe to use for anything (not that they're hugely safe now).
Why the University of Bedfordshire? Because at the time it was the only University to offer a Security and Forensics package. The lecturers and technicians know what they are talking about. Some lecturers have years of experience in teaching the subject, others have industrial experience in the subject, and a couple have both. If you want people who really know what they are doing, then Bedfordshire is the place to go.
And what's the best thing about my University life so far? The people. I know it sounds cliche, but it's definitely the people that make the Uni experience. Not just the friends, but just the people in general. Bedfordshire is a very diverse University both culturally and ethnically, and it's this that makes the best experiences. I have learnt more about different cultures and the food (my god, the food) in my two years at Bedfordshire than in 11 years of Religious studies in school.
With A-level exams going on now and Year 12's looking towards University choices soon, next week I'm going to talk about choosing the right University. More importantly, the choices that come with picking a University beyond the name.
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