The IT industry has been growing at a rather fast pace in this modern era — but are we really maximizing the endless potential which it is able to offer? The majority would know Google, but do they know what services Google has been providing aside from a search engine? Kids are handling iPhones, but are they aware of the mechanics behind the device?
The younger generation has been given a golden opportunity to bury themselves in the IT industry, be it passion or a professional career. MBPJ Kesedaran ICT is among the many events hosted to increase the exposure of high school students towards the IT industry.
Image: Students from SMJK KATHOLIK PJ
Respective representatives from Kyrol Security, CyberSecurity and En. Eddy Ramlin from G-AsiaPacific were humbly invited to give a talk on specific aspects of the cyber world, to share valuable insights on particular topics regarding the Internet and the cloud.
High school students filled the hall. Approximately 10-15 different schools participated in this event, all the way from SMK Taman Medan to Catholic High School. And that was it, a full-house.
Compiled notes were distributed to the audience, but — do high school students really appreciate the selfless effort by the generous speakers? And so, there he was. The Kyrol Security representative kicked off the session by introducing himself, followed by his research on potential threats in the cyber world.
And the inevitable occurred. Students plummeted into their own world — chit-chatting, ignoring the presenter. Teachers tried to hush them once every ten minutes. The ignorance was substantial, but what could he — the presenter, have done?
My mentor once said — presenters should be proficient in attracting the limited attention span of the audience. Be it giving a surprise quiz, cracking a joke, or relating their technical topics to the life of the audience — but alas, the presenter was giving his best in transferring his technical knowledge to the students, however fell short in capturing everyone’s limited attention span.
At the end of this presentation, it boils down to one conclusion — did the students really absorb the knowledge transferred?
Fortunately enough, the hall was suddenly filled with excitement as prizes were given out during the Q&A session. Students eagerly raced towards the microphone, grabbed it, gave their best answer and prayed that it turned out correct. At least, I thought, the students were able to try and grasp the slightest idea of what the previous presentation conveyed about the potential cyber threats through the quiz.
Image: Students from SMK La Salle PJ
Fast forward, 10 students received prizes respectively and were happy with what they got out of the quiz, and the next speaker — Mr. Eddy Ramlin stepped up and presented on Google Cloud.
The speaker walked around the hall to interact with the audience while giving a detailed explanation on Google Drive, Google Hangouts, G+ etc. Students stood up and asked questions, mostly on Google Hangouts, and about the company, G-AsiaPacific. More information about G-AsiaPacific can be found here: www.g-asiapac.com
The last session was conducted by a representative of CyberSecurity. She gave valuable tips in creating passwords for social media accounts. Adding “@fb” or “@ig” behind your Facebook and Instagram account password respectively strengthens them as it includes special case characters, causing brute force hacks less susceptible to occur.
In addition to that, parents should be more alert when uploading their children’s pictures to the Internet. Believe it or not, the Malaysian comedian, Harith Iskandar, found his children’s photos on an illegal pornography website! CyberSecurity’s presenter warned us that pedophiles are constantly cyber-grooming children and are ruthlessly browsing the Internet for new preys. As parents, we wouldn’t want our children to be targeted, do we?
All and all, with the submersion of the fast paced and ever changing IT world, we as students, teachers, parents and users of the internet need to constantly educate and learn to protect ourselves from the potential cyber threats that comes with being so digitally exposed. Use this as a guide:
Step 1: Follow us on Facebook and sign up to our monthly newsletter (where we post insights of the cloud industry)
Step 2: Strengthen your social media passwords with special-case characters
Step 3: Head over here to check how secure is your password
Until our next encounter, ta!
