The rise of ‘ransomware’ – and cyber security

The rise of ‘ransomware’ – and cyber security

With the emergence of ransomware such as the recent WannaCry virus, cyber security has become a hot topic among local and international academics.

A group of cyber security experts recently converged at the InSITE conference at RMIT Vietnam’s Saigon South campus to explore the problem of ransomware attacks – and their solutions.

Dr Azad Ali, Professor of Information Technology at Eberly College of Business, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, shared his personal experiences in dealing with ransomware similar to WannaCry.

The WannaCry virus infected hundreds of thousands of computers earlier this year, retrieving user data and then holding that data for ransom – hence the name ransomware.

Associate Professor Mathews Nkhoma, Head of RMIT Vietnam’s School of Business and Management and co-organiser of the event at the University’s advanced cyber lab. Associate Professor Mathews Nkhoma, Head of RMIT Vietnam’s School of Business and Management and co-organiser of the event at the University’s advanced cyber lab.

“Even the most up-to-date computers can be affected by ransomware, partly because there are not many people knowledgeable about this kind of computer attack. Therefore, disseminating information and educating people about the dangers of ransomware is one of the essential solutions to deal with this problem,” Professor Ali said.

“For example, [we should] encourage people not to visit strange links or emails, and always back up the data in case of an attack,” he advised.

In addition to ransomware, experts at the conference discussed defaced websites, another common form of cyber attack.

Associate Professor Mathews Nkhoma, Head of RMIT Vietnam’s School of Business & Management and co-organiser of the event, said that it is quite necessary for an organisation to enhance its cyber security knowledge, adding that the University’s advanced cyber lab prepares students to engage in highly demanding jobs of this field.

“Our new Cyber Security Lab with state-of-the-art equipment prepares students for these cyber security jobs right after graduation from RMIT Vietnam,” Professor Mathews said.

“The unique practice room is specially designed for business students to study subjects in network security, ICT information system security, digital business security, and risk management and accounting forensics,” he said.

About InSITE

Informing Science Institute’s (ISI) 2017 Informing Science and IT Education (InSITE) Multi-conference was hosted by RMIT Vietnam at the University’s Saigon South campus between July 31 and August 5. Sponsored by RMIT Vietnam’s School of Business & Management, in conjunction with the university’s Centre of Digital Excellence (CODE), the week long conference was an opportunity to share research with academics from around the world and collaborate on issues pertaining specifically to the uptake and delivery of digital technology in education.

Story: Le Mong Thuy

  • Community
  • Engineering
25 August 2017

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