CYBER FORENSICS WORKSHOP In February, the Computer Scientists of Years 11 and 12 and ICT students of Year 13 were fortunate enough to receive a lecture from a Cyber Security and Digital Forensics expert from Birmingham City University. It was a truly inspiring and informative talk, as Mr Shabbir discussed the dynamic nature of the world as we know it. He discussed change due to innovation and increasingly powerful technology, and (as always) the demerits of this change – hacking, viruses, ransomware and so on. The seminar engaged the students in various activities, such as spotting the seemingly meaningless digital devices in a home that can be used to find out the causes of a death. For example, the smartwatch worn by the deceased measures their heartrate and therefore could show the time of death. He talked about steganography – the art of hiding data within other data: for example, using bit manipulation to hide a name, number or even another picture within a picture. Data hidden using steganography is extremely difficult to detect as it is nearly impossible to know what you are looking for. For this reason, Mr Shabbir explained, this technique is being used increasingly by criminals worldwide. However, new and exciting technology is being introduced every day to help combat this issue. He also explained how digital forensics involves more than just cyber crime and it can be used in conjunction with other crimes such as bank robbery, or even in civil cases like determining who receives custody of children in a divorce. The soon-to-be professor summed up the talk by informing the students of the various undergraduate (BSc) and postgraduate degrees available at BCU: Big Data Analytics, Computer Forensics and Advanced Computer Science (postgraduate only). Overall, it was a fascinating experience that the students, as well as staff, thoroughly enjoyed. Britney Okhiria GREAT DEBATES Last term, a great and marvellous club was formed – one that was surprisingly missing from such an established grammar like ourselves. Mrs Harvey and I had conjured up a club, perhaps one could say a society, where people from the upper echelons of the school (read as Key Stage 4 and above) can gather to discuss; a place where they would not be ostracised for their views and would feel free to express themselves. Thus, people of all views could gather; ergo, Debate Club was formed. Debate Club has a range of debating topics, from whether schools should have haircut rules, to whether we should have tuition fees, to Capitalism versus Socialism. Of course, debating requires in some cases to argue the side you do not agree with but, to me, that is the fun of it. It is a great skill to argue the side given effectively and efficiently, knowing when to deliver your deceive point and how to react to your opponent’s arguments. This is certainly a great opportunity that I would like to see expanded to the rest of the school in the future. On 4th July (the best holiday across the pond for our greatest, freer ally) we will assemble a team of eight, alongside some supporters, for a competition at Joseph Chamberlain, where we will meet foes old and new and compete for a coveted prize. Keep an eye out later on in the year for how we do then! Brandon Masih, Year 12 UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER COMPUTER COMPETITION SUCCESS We received excellent news for two of our Year 9 Computer Science students (Anuoluwa Adeleye and Harjap Bahra) who entered the Animation17 UK Schools Computer Animation Competition with the University of Manchester. 570 students from 102 schools across the UK submitted entries so we are really pleased for them both – their entry has been highly commended by both the BCS eSafety team and Professor Robert Stevens from the University of Manchester Computer Science department. They are the 2017 Key Stage 3 Group Runners-Up and were awarded the BCS eSafety Highly Commended status. Framed certificates and prizes should be with us before the end of term. Well done boys! 43