Cyber security students in UK competition | News

March 2026

Cyber security students crack simulated crisis in regional finals of university challenge

By Melanie Hall

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A team of University College Birmingham undergraduates cracked a complex mock cyber incident in the nail-biting regional finals of a national student challenge.

Role-playing as cyber security advisors for a real Scottish partnership responsible for infrastructure, public safety and regional resilience, Arnam, Babatunde Sunday Adeyemi Adelowotan, Abrarkhan Pathan and Hassan Jahangir had to produce and present detailed reports to a panel of industry experts in the Cyber Leaders Challenge 2026 competition for UK universities.

Throughout January and February, the team, all Cyber Security BSc (Hons) students, analysed no fewer than 15 detailed scenario reports, including government advisories, security research insights, media coverage and preliminary incident analyses in preparation for presenting their strategic recommendations to the judging panel.

Lecturer Dr Raja Muhammad Ubaid Ullah, who coached, guided and mentored the ‘UCB CLC’ team throughout the briefing stages of the challenge, said the students had been fantastic.

“It is the first time the University has entered a competition like this before, with 450 students across the UK taking part,” he said.

“Our four students were just brilliant and worked really hard, even sacrificing their break after their mock exams and weekends to work on the challenge.

“It was an excellent opportunity for them to engage in a high-level cyber crisis simulation focused on strategic decision-making and multi-agency coordination, and it will be great for their future careers and portfolios.”

Team leader Arnam said: “It was a great experience, especially as it was about more than just the tech. We learned to look at problems strategically and work on them as a team. It will really help us when we are in the industry.”

Babatunde added: “We got insight into the real-life world of cyber, which was amazing.”

Abrarkhan, who has just secured a one-year paid work placement as a test analyst with retailer NEXT’s headquarters, said: “It was an exciting opportunity to see what it’s like in the industry.”

For the challenge, the team - who all aspire to work in cloud computing or DevOps - became cyber security advisors for the West of Scotland Regional Resilience Partnership (WoSRRP).

This partnership operates under the Civil Contingencies Act (2004) and plays a key role in bringing together agencies and organisations to prevent and respond to major emergencies.

“They had to explore multiple courses of action and develop practical recommendations designed to strengthen regional cyber resilience, improve inter-agency coordination and support effective crisis response,” said Dr Muhammad Ubaid Ullah, who invited Kanwal Rauf (Head of Department of Computing) to present the students with their challenge certificates and a £20 Amazon voucher each last week.

“It highlights the University’s commitment to developing cyber leadership skills, strategic thinking, and real-world problem-solving capabilities among our students. It also demonstrates the University’s strong engagement with contemporary cybersecurity challenges affecting national and regional infrastructure.”

Key areas the team had to address:

Preparedness: Evaluating existing cyber resilience capabilities and identifying gaps in incident response and infrastructure protection
Operational resilience: Proposing measures to maintain the continuity of essential services during cyber disruptions
Impact management: Assessing risks to critical infrastructure, supply chains and public safety
Strategic communication: Recommending approaches for effective communication with stakeholders, the public and the media
Reputation management: Identifying strategies to maintain public trust and organisational credibility during and after the cyber incident

University College Birmingham’s Cyber Security degree includes modules such as Research Methods for Cyber Security, Securing Networks, Cyber Forensics, Ethical Hacking and Professional Issues in Cyber Security.

This year, industrial visits are planned for cyber security students, and they will also have the opportunity to hear from guest speakers from West Midlands Police and attend guest lectures delivered by former representatives of the FBI.

Find out more about our cyber security and computer science degrees within our Department of Computing at our School of Computing, Engineering and Built Environment.

"It was a great experience, especially as it was about more than just the tech. We learned to look at problems strategically and work on them as a team. It will really help us when we are in the industry."

Arnam Cyber Security BSc (Hons) student