Rudolf Gaiseb
Last week’s Namibia International Cybersecurity Conference and Exhibition was held under the theme ‘Securing Namibia’s Digital Future: Collaboration, Innovation and Capacity Building’.
The annual conference continues to attract academia and corporations by empowering students and universities with the knowledge and skills needed to address the growing demand for cybersecurity professionals.
Various of students attended the forum.This is what some students from NUST
had to say afterwards.
Joshua Madzimure
I am a student, a cybersecurity coach and an instructor, among other things. I learnt a lot about Cloud. I thought Cloud was invincible – that it was untouchable, but I learnt it is just the same as other systems. You just need to understand it and how it works. I also learnt a lot about artificial intelligence (AI), which we already know, but we were taught more in-depth about its vulnerabilities and all that.
What I learnt and observed is that many people are promoting AI for everyone to use. But we do not know the motive behind it. You cannot just be using something that is collecting your data. Where is your data going? You are less in control of your data, which is not a good thing for a cybersecurity person. You need to be involved. You need to know where your data is going, and you need to know who is responsible for your data.
I also found out that we do not own our own data. This means we need data centres in Namibia. We need our own data centres to control our own data, then we control our own mindset and everything. But the fact that we do not have data centres in Namibia means we are still behind in terms of cybersecurity. So, I feel like we still have a lot to learn.
Alfeus Shovaleka
I am a cybersecurity third-year student at Nust. In my opinion, the future of cybersecurity is on a really good path because most of the aspects that we have touched on are based on AI-driven applications. Banking systems, including First National Bank (FNB), Bank Windhoek, NamPost and all that are integrating more into AI, which is a very good step towards defending Namibia in a very powerful way. I learnt about firewalls. These firewalls are also AI-driven, whereby they can detect and mitigate threats on their own without human interaction, learn behaviour and stuff like that.
Nokia Kaapehi
When it comes to cybersecurity in Namibia, the budget is low. The government tends to focus more on education, health and food. I am not saying they are not important. I am saying we can at least get an [optimal] amount because we are still low. We became the number one playground for cybersecurity attacks. Starting with the FNB – the way they fringed the emails to steal our e-wallets. Like, how did they get away with it? Where is the justice? Do you know what just happened in Otjiwarongo at the municipality? It is really not that strong. Cybersecurity should be improved.
Asteria Jeremia
One of the speakers told us how important communication, not just within the company but within the country as a nation, and coming together and uniting are. That was a very important point they raised, as unity within the country leads to unity across borders.
Another thing they touched on was the importance of skills – not just any skills but life skills and soft skills, which play a major role not only in how we interact with each other but also in how we interact within the companies, the country and outside with our counterparts.
Moreover, we touched on AI and how it is going to impact us, as a country, how important it is and how to actually use it accordingly to maximise our output at the end of the day. I do not think many citizens are aware of the cybersecurity industry, because even when we do see scams, we do not consider them cyberattacks. We just see scams, money scams and money laundering. I feel like that is caused by the digital divide and the lack of education around the country. That is where the lack of information and lack of cybersecurity awareness come into play. We do not know it, and we are not aware of it. We do not understand the different types of cyber crimes. This shows why we are in the situation we are currently in.
Judith Kapofi
As a student leader, I have learnt that cybersecurity in Namibia is around. There are so many opportunities for you here. So many companies are looking forward to teaching students about cybersecurity. Touching on cyberbullying is something that we do not take lightly at NUST. If you are a student, you do know that, normally, students who partake in cyberbullying are properly dealt with because it has a negative effect on people’s mental health. It has a detrimental effect on people. Some measures are being put in place. Currently, at the conference that we are attending today, we found out that they are not enforcing some of these data protection laws for students and anyone on social media. That is what we are currently working on and pushing students here at the conference. They came together, and they are signing a petition for the Cybercrime Bill to be passed because of these things. Nobody is protecting people online, but we are trying.
Hella Nakomba
My key takeaway from this event would be that cybersecurity is a broad field. In the case of how I came into this field, it was a thing of, ‘I am coming to do computers’, and I was excited. But then, taking into account that it is actually very important. It keeps growing, and you do not stop learning because you actually have to build on so many skills in terms of your degree.
You have to earn some certifications. Like, I was exposed to quite a number of times where I can do certifications and just enhance my skills. One thing that I took into account when I came to this event is that I should focus on a niche and not just look at cybersecurity as a broad big picture. I should focus on niches like, let us say, intrusion detection, Pen testing, analysts and all those things. So, I would say I learnt quite a lot – like a lot. The speakers gave me more insight into this field and how beautiful it is. It is growing, and so much money is in this field in terms of what people know. It is actually important in Namibia. Our Namibian economy is not really accommodating it in the way it is supposed to be.
Photos: Heather Erdmann