Indonesian student wins global Kaspersky Lab security competition

An entry from Indonesia’s Bandung Institute of Technology has won the Kaspersky Lab Cyber Security for the Next Generation 2013 international student conference competition.

The winning project was submitted by Firman Azhari. 

In second place was Dusan Repel of the University of Plymouth in the UK, and third was Iwan Gulenko of the Technical University of Munich, Germany.

The top projects and students were announced after the finals at Royal Holloway, University of London last week, when the 14 finalists from 11 countries participated in a series of challenges and presentations.

The finals were preceded by regional competitions in North America, South America, Asia, Europe and Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent states (CIS).

The finals were assessed by a committee of Kaspersky Lab experts, IT security lecturers and decision-makers from the IT industry.

The winning project on the detection of security vulnerability in Indonesian near field communication (NFC) applications looked at protection for e-payment and e-identity data.

Azhari analysed the security levels of NFC cards and proposed a solution to manage security problems using a mobile NFC inspection application and a small portable device for analysing NFC systems.

Runner up Dusan Repel presented a framework for security engineers to transform their code to protect their intellectual property against theft or exploitation through reverse engineering.

Third-placed Iwan Gulenko’s project was not technology-based, but focused instead on training methods to create a culture of using stronger passwords.

In their presentations on future threats, finalists identified malware aimed at smartphones, genetic code hijacking, cyber attacks on critical infrastructure, theft of online currencies, cyber attacks on drones and hijacking of online transactions as the most likely areas of concern.

The student conference is a key element of Kaspersky Lab’s efforts to seek, support and educate young people from around the world as they set out on a career in IT security.

The company said the conference is designed to provide a forum where students can demonstrate their knowledge and skills, as well as share experiences with industry experts and academics.

Regional conferences take place in major universities and involve student competitions, learning sessions, lectures by globally-renowned experts, games and socialising.

On winning this year’s competition, Azhari said: “This conference has been a great opportunity, and it makes me more determined than ever to continue my studies and build a career in IT security.”

Veniamin Ginodman, head of education programmes at Kaspersky Lab said the conference is aimed at helping young IT professionals understand the cyber world and learn to combat all the threats.