Edited by Bishakha Jain
We had the opportunity of interviewing Professor Nisha TN. Here are some insights which she shared with us in this value adding conversation!
Shobhita – Starting with the first question, could you tell me about yourself and about your professional achievements?
Ma’am – I have completed my graduation in B.Sc in Computer Science and my post graduation in MCA as well as MBA. I have qualified the NET exam. Currently, I’m pursuing my PhD in the area of Network Security.
Shobhita- What is your take on Information Security? How did you develop interest in the field of Information Security?
Ma’am – I have started learning about Information Security, once I joined my PhD course. For doing PhD we need to choose one subject ,so when I start doing my PhD, I saw and read how information security is trending in the market and after having good insights about it, I decided to pursue my PhD in Information Security. As I am working in Network Security for which I had to study and research about security. I learned by myself from basic fundamentals through videos and tutorials because it is new for me. This is how I got along in security.
Shobhita– As there is a subject VAPT in our course; could you elaborate on the difference between Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Testing?
Ma’am – This thing you will look by two different areas. Vulnerability Assessment means looking into the system to find out the vulnerabilities which are present in the system. And once you got the vulnerabilities you check how to utilise those vulnerabilities to get into the system that is known as Penetration Testing. So, Vulnerability Assessment is identifying vulnerabilities in the system using many techniques and Penetration Testing is using that vulnerability to exploit the threat into the system.
Shobhita– What is Phishing? How it can be prevented?
Ma’am – Phishing is actually a big threat. When we think about security the human element is the biggest element in security. As phishing made human to click or open some particular website or links by which human can steal data or harm something in the system or in the area of security. It is the biggest cause of vulnerability. As we say in the form of security, phishing is the fraudulent attempt to obtain sensitive information such as usernames, passwords and credit card details by disguising as a trustworthy entity in electronic communication.
Shobhita – Nowadays Trojan Horses are highlighted in the field of information security, what are Trojan Horses and how it will affect us?
Ma’am – Trojan Horses are basically carriers which are finding in the system to breach the data security. Trojans are generally spread by some form of social engineering. When the user clicks on the email attachment or downloads the free program, the malware that is hidden inside is transferred to the user’s computing device. One of the most insidious types of Trojan horse is a program that claims to rid your computer of viruses but instead introduces viruses onto your computer. Trojan horses are broken down in classification based on how they breach systems and the damage they cause.
Shobhita– Ma’am, as you told you, are doing PhD in Network Security so could you tell us the brief about it?
Ma’am – Network security is basically about network access Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack . So my work is to find the DDoS attack in the system network to prevent the breach of security.
Shobhita– What will you recommend to the SCIT students to gain more knowledge in the field of Information Security?
Ma’am– My recommendations or suggestions to student try by yourself. Whatever is trending in the market related to the field of Information Security try implementing it i.e. hands on. Because when we read about those things theoretically, we only get the knowledge about it and think it’s easy but when we try to implement practically it teaches us a lot beyond the theoretical aspect. We learn more by implementing things practically rather than theoretically.
Shobhita– As we know nowadays Information Security is in trend so what your opinion is for the women taking Information Security?
Ma’am– As I don’t believe in gender inequality because men and women both are equal. But talking about women it is good that they are coming in the field of Information Security and try to explore different areas. Learning security, I believe it is good because if few women show their initiation to choose this field it increases the awareness among others.
Shobhita – What is your perception or intake about NULLCON conference?
Ma’am– NULLCON stands for the next security thing. I wanted to join NULLCON this year but unfortunately I have other commitments. I will definitely try joining next time. It is a good platform for security enthusiasts because we get to learn so many things and gain insights about it. It is a platform for exchanging information on the latest attacks, vulnerabilities and unknown threats. It is the place where security researchers and experts discuss and showcase the future of Information Security and the next-generation of offensive and defensive security technology.
Shobhita– My last question for you – could you tell us the one idea, how you will promote women to participate in the Information Security field?
Ma’am– As we all know women are more inclined towards reading. They prefer to read instead of doing hands on. Women are hesitating to try new things because they are afraid that it might affect the system or any threat or any virus will occur. So the idea of promoting them to participate in this field that they should be aware or updated on security topics, should leave their hesitation and try to implement things by using or working on small hands-on based on security strategies, they can gain confidence which will help them to learn.
Another segment of the interview involved a quick rapid fire with Ma’am.
- Favourite Cuisine- Kerala Food
- Favourite Book- Not specific
- Hangout Place in SCIT- My cabin
- Hangout place in Pune – shopping/market
- A website you prefer most- Stack overflow
- The best thing you want to do in your free time- Watching TV
Thank You, Ma’am, for your valuable time and your valuable information. This will really help a lot to SCIT students.
