IRD Department Holds Open Lecture on Cybersecurity
On November 1st, 2023, the International Relations and Diplomacy Department, Faculty of Administrative Sciences and Economics (FASE) at Tishk International University (TIU) held an open lecture on “Introduction to Cybersecurity.” The lecture began with a welcome address by the Head of IRD Department, Dr. Mohammad Salih Mustafa, who introduced the distinguished speaker, Dr. Taha Basheer Taha from the IT Department, Tishk International University.
Dr. Taha took the audience through the dynamics of the world of cybersecurity, focusing on understanding the common types of cyberattacks, assessing the strength of passwords, exploring the brute force technique, grasping the fundamentals of data encryption. He explained the foregoing points to the satisfaction of the audience. He further explained the increasing importance of cybersecurity in today’s digital landscape. He defined cybersecurity as the protection of computer systems and networks from theft, disruption, misdirection, or damage to their hardware, software, or electronic data. The purpose of cybersecurity is to provide the principles and practices of cryptography, which is the process of hiding or coding information, so that only the person a message was intended for can read it. The art of cryptography has been used to code messages for thousands of years and continues to be used in bank cards, computer passwords, and e-commerce. He advanced other reasons, which border on protecting oneself and device, understanding attacker’s mindset, testing and enhancing the security of a company or organization, finding a job, as there are currently 350,000 unfilled cybersecurity jobs in the United States of America.
During the lecture, the speaker also explained how investing in cybersecurity is worthwhile because it prevents cybercrime, which has within offences that are committed against individuals or groups of individuals using modern telecommunication networks, such as the internet. This underscores the primacy of cybersecurity and the need for states around the world to formulate and implement digital policies that would address digital divide, and incorporate cybersecurity, so that they can protect themselves and their citizens from the harmful effects of cybercrime. This could be achieved if states regard this issue as a foreign policy priority.
The Q & A session followed, where the distinguished speaker answered all the questions that were asked by enthusiastic participants, including TIU staff and students, especially those taking IRD 233: Security and Due Diligence. Finally, a certificate of appreciation was given to the speaker by the Head of IRD Department, Dr. Mohammad Salih Mustafa.
