We talked about backup and information protection with the head of the Department of Information Technology Security at IKTIB SFU, Evgeniy Abramov.
On March 31, the world celebrates International Backup Day (Backup Day). In the context of digitalization, there is more demand than ever for creating copies of important data on backup media in order to restore them in the event of damage or loss of the main one.
The holiday is intended to attract public attention to the issues of ensuring the preservation of information, as well as protection against hacking of websites and personal accounts.
Head of the Department of Information Technology Security at IKTIB SFU Evgeniy Abramov Head of the Department of Information Technology Security at IKTIB SFU Evgeniy Abramov
“IKTIB trains specialists in several programs in three departments, including “Information Security of Automated Systems”, “Information Security in Law Enforcement” (Examination of Computer Crimes)”, “Information Security of Telecommunication Systems”, etc. In the junior years, the basics of data protection are taught to students throughout the Institute, and later in the departments a more in-depth study of the topic takes place,” said Evgeniy Abramov, head of the Department of Information Technology Security at IKTIB SFU.
Any protection methods are aimed at ensuring one or more of the three basic properties of information security: confidentiality, integrity or availability of information. In addition to backup, there are also special methods that allow you to search for malicious software on your computer or on the Internet in real time.
A separate set of disciplines is associated with the investigation of attacks that have already taken place. This includes forensics – computer forensics, a kind of reverse research, including disassembling programs and restoring their algorithms without source code. This is necessary to understand how a computer virus works in order to subsequently find it and assess the damage caused.
Great importance in training students of the Institute of Computer Technologies and Information Security of SFU is given to consolidating the acquired theoretical skills in practice.
“This year we developed a practice-oriented course for bachelors, following which we conducted an exam in the World Skills format. The guys regularly participate in competitions in professional skills, win gold medals in all competencies at the all-Russian level, are the basis of the Russian national team in the Blockchain competency, and became BRICS champions.
Teachers and students of departments of research work on the safety of unmanned aerial vehicles, drones, industrial Internet, Internet of things. IKTIB students take part in all this,” the speaker added.
Under conditions of sanctions pressure, the Russian IT sector is gradually reorienting towards the domestic market. Domestic specialists and students in areas related to information technology are increasingly switching to Russian software.
“We continue to develop, introducing domestic software and technologies, which are now replacing imported operating systems. For example, special operating systems of the Astra Linux family. At IKTIB SFU we are already teaching students using domestic software,” emphasized Evgeniy Abramov.
Recently, attacks on the websites and infrastructure of Russian enterprises and government agencies have become more frequent. According to the head of the Department of Information Technology Security, this has happened before, but now unfriendly actions in cyberspace have crossed almost all boundaries.
“Today, all our infrastructures are being studied, as if under a microscope, to find vulnerabilities. There is no ideal system. Even if it is technically protected, there may often be an insider through whom hacking is possible, or a careless employee who neglects information security measures. We must not forget that a huge number of infrastructure elements are built on imported equipment or software.
Now we need to take our attitude towards information security to a new level. Neglect of this will be punished not by the regulator, but by the environment itself,” noted Evgeniy Abramov.
Devices and data of ordinary users are much more often hacked. However, according to the representative of IKTIB SFU, in order to increase the level of their security, it is worth remembering only a few simple rules.
“Of course, you need to make backups regularly. In this case, copies must be on different physical devices. It’s ideal if you have 3 copies: one on an external drive, another in cloud storage, and the third on your phone or computer.
When it comes to protecting information from unauthorized access, strong passwords are traditionally required, as well as multi-factor authentication. Moreover, it is desirable not only using SMS, but also using specialized programs for generating one-time keys (for example, 2FAS Auth). Then, when you try to log into a linked application, you will need to enter a dynamic code, the lifetime of which is only 30 seconds,” concluded the head of the Department of Information Technology Security at IKTIB SFU.