Q: How will this help the community?

A: To simplify, aside from using technology to fill the pockets in our society, my research aims to also tackle the security issues posed through 3 layers. The first layer aims to educate and train the end-users of these technologies. The research must solve how we train the community to detect when a malicious attack lands on them and how to prevent them from falling for it. Whether it’s not opening a link or an email that seems suspicious or being more careful about the apps we use, we aim to first educate and train end-users in becoming more aware.

But because it’s easier for a hacker to get through a system than educate all the end-users, the second layer of the research is to be a shield and protect the community by keeping our data safe and secure. This usually involves the IT department or Cyber Security Specialist to help keep the tools and technology we use safe for the end-user. At the same time, the third layer which involves meeting up and constantly coming up with the right solutions is necessary since we’re moving at a rapid rate. 

That’s also why research in cyber security is necessary to serve different areas of the community. The results, coming from research projects and scientific research publications like research papers, organising and presenting conferences, Intellectual Patent publication, and publishing scientific books, helped different groups of people through multiple aspects. Hence, different research must continuously carry on. 

Q: Ensuring that communities stay educated while protecting them sounds never-ending. Can you share how the rest of us, who aren’t as tech savvy, can play our part in ensuring the safe use of technology?

A: Hackers can’t do anything till they’re part of the system and there’s always a protection layer set up by the IT department to prevent them. So how can they enter? Vague access points is one of them.  Did you know that 70% of the mistakes are by the users? Most of the time we make the mistakes that allow for these vague access points to exist. 

I experienced it once when I received an email from a random professor in Taylor’s! Because of my background in IT, I realise and recognise that it was a phishing attack so I ignored the message and sent it to ICT instead. After investigating, we found out that the particular user opened a document that shouldn’t have been open. 

We need to frequently train and update the community at large to be a right user. The best approach is to always be careful and not respond to anything that may be suspicious or dangerous.

Q: Through all your research and publication, there must have been a lot of moments and memories that you hold dear. What do you take out from it and where do you plan on going from here?

A: There were definitely many memorable moments in my research career. From the time my first postgraduate student graduated to the first time my book and patent were published and even my first grant being accepted. With the moments of victory, there were many failures but they were all important. 

Research can only flourish when you become part of that team and can only be done when you prove yourself worthy in the research. This is known as an initial struggle which is a hard time when you’re struggling alone to make your place. I’ll never forget those times where I spent years trying to come out of it. 

At the end of the day, like I mentioned earlier, research is a continuous job like one's hobby and we cannot say that we’re done. It’s the name of continuous improvement and looking for further achievements which can serve the community in a better way. To that, I’m looking to strengthen my research further in all directions.

Q: Speaking of improvements, what do you think are some of the biggest challenges the industry will face in the next 5 years and how can we face it?

A: We need to bridge the gap between industry and academia, as our research may have more impact on our lives. In addition, our industry is facing challenges including overcoming the current challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. But, I do believe we can mitigate this by better utilising our technology.