USM makes the grade

ALL was silent save for the sound of fingers tapping away at keyboards, but furiously and purposefully, as if lives depended on it. Granted, the stakes were not that high, but the tension was intense at the finale challenge of the 2014 F-Secure Inter-Varsity IT Security Competition held recently in Cyberjaya.

All three finalist teams, armed with a laptop, were required to complete tasks within the fastest time in a jeopardy-like course that tested their hands-on skills and knowledge.

After a two-hour intense battle which left them 255 points ahead of the pack, Team N2L from Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) were crowned as the champions, walking away with three Apple MacBooks worth RM5,000 each.

“We are overjoyed. We never saw this coming,” said Lim Yen Sheng, a final year computer science student.

“We strategised well throughout the competition, each of us fully prepared in what we deemed as our core strengths and prepared to push our limits to overcome our weaker subject areas,” said fellow teammate Lee Chi Ngan.

Law Jia Jge said he couldn’t wait to use his brand new computer for his studies.

The first runner-up, Team Bounty Hunter from USM, received three Microsoft Surface Tablets worth RM2,000 each while the second runner-up, Team Xposure from Multimedia University (Malacca campus) received three smart-watches worth RM500 each. In addition, all three participating teams were also presented with a one-year premium F-Secure Internet and Mobile security protection.

The competition, initiated by F-Secure and Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC), is aimed at nurturing local talents and encouraging more Malaysian undergraduates to venture into the field of IT security through education.

“We are required in our daily lives to be online and security is an important sector in the IT industry. We strongly believe in investing and nurturing young minds by providing platforms such as this competition for these future leaders to contribute to the industry,” said F-Secure Corporation general manager Ingvar Froiland.

As a global online security provider since 1988, F-Secure protects information and prevents the loss of valuable content through its commitment to treat every piece of digital information as personal and irreplaceable.

“Our goal is to improve the skills of our undergraduates and fresh graduates, our programmes are aimed at meeting the demands of the current and future workforce requirements of the ICT industry at the local and global levels,” said MDeC chief operating officer Ng Wan Peng.

The judges for this year’s competition were Malaysia Communications and Multimedia Commission senior director (Outeach and Engagement Division) Eneng Faridah Iskandar, F-Secure Labs Kuala Lumpur senior manager Jose Cequena and F-Secure Labs Kuala Lumpur service manager Chang Kim Meng.

Source from The Star online : http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Education/2014/06/29/USM-makes-the-grade/