Computer Science student performed ‘live hack’ at top London event

Jamie (right) shares the stage with Boris Johnson.A Bangor University student and certified ethical hacker recently participated at a prestigious London event amid speakers such as Boris Johnson and Lord Alex Carlile.

Jamie Woodruff, 21, from Rishton, Lancashire a second year student at the School of Computer Science performed a live hack on stage at the ‘Legislating for LulzSec’ event - a discussion on privacy, data & policy for the digital economy.

The event, hosted by Innotech, focused on the reoccurring questions of digital skills in terms of cyber hacking, privacy, and the future of governments’ interference of citizens’ data.

During the event Jamie hacked into one of the delegates’ website with their permission, and listed their vulnerabilities. This enabled the delegate to see how computer hackers may be able to attack their website and put their business at risk. Jamie also provided feedback on how to help protect their website.

Jennifer Arcuri, Founder of the Innotech Summit, said: "Jamie made the Innotech 2014 event with the #LiveHack! He stood on stage and spoke to the Mayor of London for a few minutes about the importance of hacking: what it is, how it is used, and why it’s so important to learn. The audience were enchanted as they had never seen anyone break down hacking live on stage, with such high profiled speakers and directors there in the audience. It was certainly a magical experience for the audience and I am thrilled to have hosted Jamie at the event."

Jamie said: “I was really excited and a little bit nervous about participating in this event. I’m very honoured to have been given a chance to speak to a wide audience about the sensitive matters relating to privacy. Not only I got a chance to express my own views, but I was also given the chance to relay the views of others. I would also like to thank Bangor University for the constant support to both my academic and personal interests.”

Jamie then went on to participate in the StartupBus UK event, which is an annual competition where Europe’s top tech communities compete against each other to launch a new technology business on a bus, travelling from London to Vienna.

Watch:
Innotech 2014 - Live Hack Part 1, Born to Hack with Jamie Woodruff and Dave Mathews
Innotech 2014 - Live Hack Part 2: Scan, Exploit, Inject with Jamie Woodruff and Dave Mathews
Innotech 2014 - Live Hack Part 3: Steal your cookie with Jamie Woodruff and Dave Mathews

Publication date: 17 November 2014