UUM ONLINE: Perlis - The high reliance on Internet services and the virtual world has changed almost every aspect of human life. The dependency of people on the virtual world and Internet services is ever increasing, not only in Malaysia but all over the world especially with the wide spread of COVID-19 pandemic. However, this dependency exposes users to a myriad of cyber threats such as fraud, cyberbullying, identity theft, and cyber harassment to users at all levels, including organisations and business entities that can cause significant losses.
As such various types of cyber defence tools need to be developed to safeguard users and organisations from these threats and attacks. They also need to be well managed to prevent organisations and business entities from suffering losses due to unforeseen situations. Consequently, the field of cybersecurity education must be in tandem with the development of various defence mechanisms to form a sustainable cybersecurity ecosystem.
Hence, in a bid to ensure that the cybersecurity ecosystem in Malaysia remains secured and sustainable, CyberSecurity Malaysia and Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) have undertaken long-term measures to strengthen advanced education and professional training in the field of cybersecurity that correspond with the needs of the industry and the market today. Thus, both parties have signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) to offer cybersecurity training and certification programmes.
As this collaborative joint venture sets in motion, UUM will act as the training and examination centre for the Global ACE certification scheme in the northern region of Malaysia. CyberSecurity Malaysia and UUM will offer cybersecurity professional certification courses as a short-term course for executives and information technology managers. Moreover, UUM will offer the Master of Science in Cybersecurity starting in 2021 which allows students to graduate with two professional cybersecurity certificates offered by the Global ACE certification scheme. Graduates of this programme will have added value in which they have an industry-oriented professional recognition.
The collaboration between CyberSecurity Malaysia and UUM is expected to contribute to human resource development in Malaysia. This effort supports the production of a workforce that meets the needs of the current market of cybersecurity-related areas. In fact, these areas have been listed in the critical occupation list (COL) 2019/2020 as reported by Talent Corp and the Institute of Labor Market Information and Analysis, Ministry of Human Resources. Thus, this collaboration comes at the right time as a means of supporting the needs and demands of a trained workforce in the field of cybersecurity.
The MoA signining event was held during the closing ceremony of the Cyber Parenting Seminar: Towards Digital Fluency on 3 October 2020 at Ibnu Khaldun Hall, Institute Kemahiran MARA (IKM) Beseri. Dato’ Ts. Dr. Amirudin Abdul Wahab, Chief Executive Officer of CyberSecurity Malaysia and Prof. Dr. Huda Ibrahim, Assistant Vice-Chancellor representing the Vice-Chancellor of UUM completed this MoA exchange. The ceremony was witnessed by Dato’ Zahidi Zainul Abidin, Deputy Minister of Communications and Multimedia.
At the same ceremony, Prof Dr. Huda presented Dato’ Ts. Dr. Amirudin with his letter of appointment, appointing him as the Adjunct Professor of UUM School of Computing (SOC). This appointment is effective from 15 August 2020 to 14 August 2022. As the Adjunct Professor, he serves as a consultant related to cybersecurity to students and lecturers at SOC. This appointment is expected to further strengthen advanced cybersecurity education.
Prior to this official ceremony, Dato’ Ts. Dr. Amirudin delivered his first lecture online on 16 August 2020 through Webex and Facebook Live. His lecture entitled “Cybersecurity During the Covid-19 Pandemic” was attended by UUM staff members and students. In his lecture, he warned the audience of the rise in cybersecurity threats since the Movement Control Order (MCO) was imposed and how one can protect themselves from those threats.
Subsequent to the MoA signing ceremony, Dato’ Ts. Dr. Amirudin accompanied by four other staff members, headed the CyberSecurity Malaysia team to visit SOC on 4th October. The aim of the visit was to discuss the long-term strategies for a sustainable certification programme. They were taken on a tour to the various departments at SoC particularly the Computing Professional Enrichment & Development Division (CoPED) – the division that is largely responsible for the offering of the certification programmes as stated in the MoA.
Source : SOC UUM