"In 1986, there were only a few hundred known Malwares. Today, that number has grown to 900,000," said Goh Chin Teng, technical consultant at computing science company, F-Secure-PowerBloc. Goh was at Nilai University College to give a seminar on the very real and increasing dangers of cyber threats and Internet crimes.
In today's digital age, the single biggest threat to your electronic data and personal computer is Malware. This is an acronym for 'malicious software' which is designed to damage or disrupt a system. Some of the more common forms of malware include 'viruses', 'worms' or the infamous, 'Trojan Horses'. As reflected by the statistic above, malware has become a global concern.
"It is important that we educate the young on the dangers of malware so they are able to protect themselves and avoid being a victim of data theft or getting hacked. The seminar will educate students here on how malware is created and how they can analyse it so as to prevent getting their technical gadgets infected," said Goh. He also explained that malware is usually sent in low numbers initially to avoid detection and utilizes techniques such as 'spear-phishing' to infiltrate a system. This is apparently a huge threat to vast social networking sites such as 'Facebook' and 'Friendster'. Goh also warned students that malware can even appear in the form of ordinary files such as PDF, Word Document or Powerpoint which could pass through many a system undetected. Goh also spoke on the growing problem of mobile malware which is spreading through wireless networks and Bluetooths.
Apart from lecturing students on the dangers of spyware, Goh said F-Secure-PowerBloc was also on the lookout for potential future employees. Given that Nilai UC has a large number of Computer Science students, it is not surprising that the company began their nationwide tour of education institutes at the tertiary institute's award-winning 105-acre campus. After the talk, students also took part in a Q&A session as well as quizzes which saw many of them bagging t-shirts and other goodies.
Talks and seminars such as this are part of Nilai UC's on-going efforts to give its students an all-rounded education. This helps with exposure to real-life working conditions and as well as allowing for students to comprehend what is expected of them as future employees. Ganesh Mahendranathan, a Foundation Studies student, encapsulated it best when he said, "This seminar shows how important it will be, not only for those working in the IT industry, to combat the threat of malwares but also for those who will be handling sensitive and secret company information. We must all be alert to the fact that someone may try to steal that info."
