INSIGHT FROM AN AIRMAN AND MASON STUDENTS

By Christine Viray, Staff Writer

While I knew about the subject of cyber security in basic terms and it’s importance, I’ve only recently learned that October is National Cyber Security Awareness month.  Even though October is coming to an end, I still think that it’s important to acknowledge the subject of cyber security because it protects us on the internet and in the real world.

But becoming aware is only one step toward fully understanding the importance of cyber security, so I encourage you to take note of every simple action you take when using the internet because the internet itself reflects the real world in a way. Internet users can have good or bad intentions, or maybe even both.  Unfortunately, this diversity has caused people to entice unsuspecting users through various forms of lures and traps, which can include scamming, catfishing, and phishing.

Thankfully, I had the privilege of interviewing Hamid Sadr, a Mason sophomore majoring in Information Technology (IT) and Namrha Aslam Chohan, a Mason freshman majoring in Cyber Security Engineering

“As [its] name implies, cyber security is essentially protection of technological information on all scales.  This information, known as data in most places, has become a staple part of life in the modern era, and is practically impossible to go anywhere or do anything without having encountered or used data in some way, shape, or form,” says Sadr.

He goes on to say that, “[these factors] are why cyber security is necessary.  Not only is it a matter of national security, but people’s daily lives would be completely flipped upside down if what they wouldn’t want to be shared or known to the general public is somehow put out there.”

“Cyber security is the act of protecting patents against cyber crimes such as viruses, hacks, and identity thefts.  We should care about it because as a nation we should try our level best to protect ourselves from online thieves trying to steal confidential information that can harm the security of us citizens,” says Aslam Chohan.

Even though Sadr and Aslam Chohan do not represent Mason students as a whole, their responses prove that there are Mason students who are well aware of cyber security.  But I think it’s important for every student to get a basic understanding of cyber security because we live in a technologically advanced world with people that have different intentions.

Photo Courtesy of Scott AFB Public Affairs Team