SEOUL, KOREA - Professor Park Choon-Sik, currently teaching data security at Seoul Women’s University, started working in the information security field back in 1982 when he got into finding ways of protecting data at the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute. He also studied cyber security at the National Security Research Institute before he started nurturing future experts in data protection at his present institution since 2009.
“The threat of cyber-terrorism continues and is expected to be more complicated and advanced than ever before,” states Park, explaining his take on ever-evolving cyber terror threats. “Thanks to the advent of new technologies, media and services including the smart phone, cloud computing, big data, SNS, and IoT, and others, cyber space would be further menaced than now. And well-established, systematic and forceful cyber attacks or groups that launch those attacks would come up,” adds the professor.
Regarding his work as a professor of information security, he says that “Seoul Women’s University was the first to create the Department of Information Security in the capital area in 2003, training female data security experts for about ten years since. We are also running a number of programs with local data security companies for academic-industrial cooperation and internship exchange and putting every effort into nurturing our students to have practical qualifications as information security experts by implementing a graduation certificate program to enhance their programming capability, running a short-term IT academy and promoting the activities of a counter-hacking club, ‘SWING’.”
As to what Korea should do about information security, Park explains, “In order to level up the status of Korea in the field of information security, we all have to improve our capability to come up with counter-measures while working together with international entities to put global efforts into fighting against the threat of cyber-terrorism. And we also have to actively participate in various international organizations and treaties related to information s
Professor Park elucidates how he handles materials he provides on a daily basis. “I personally translate news articles on information protection that have never been revealed in the local media and post them on my Facebook and other SNSs every week. Even if I forward good opinions of many experts, I should admit that I am a little worried if what I am doing is really helping others be aware of the importance of information security.”