The Faculty of Security Studies was the venue on 25th September for an open lecture titled Big Data and Cyber-Security. The Serbian National Internet Domain Name Registry Foundation (RNIDS) and the US Embassy organised the talk in partnership with the Faculty of Security Studies, the ETF (Faculty of Electrical Engineering) Students’ Union and the PMF (Faculty of Sciences) Students’ Union.
Around 40 students, IT professionals and interested members of the public had a chance to hear about the concept of Big Data and learn about its importance for both the private and public sector and how it can help combat modern cyber threats.
Big Data is a term used to indicate large quantities of unprocessed and unstructured digital data derived from different sources, which cannot be analysed using traditional techniques and tools. In order to utilise, store and manage it, modern, specialised software is needed. This was the topic of the talk by Branko Primetica, eGlobalTech Vice President who emphasized that the three main characteristics of large collections of data are: volume, velocity and their variety.
With the rapid development of the Internet of Things, which allows the interconnection of things, i.e. physical objects, via the Internet, the Big Data concept has taken on special significance. “The latest generation of refrigerators can let us know when we have run out of milk or other suplies, and this only increases the quantity of data that needs to be processed by specialised software at some point,” said Primetica.
Many cities and towns have succeeded in improving the living standards of their citizens using this approach. One of these is Chicago, which used its SmartData platform to improve its social welfare system. This platform is completely free to use by any city in the world, and the organisation that developed it is prepared to provide support in implementing it. Primetica noted that this could be a significant resource for Serbia and expressed the hope that the public sector and city administrations in Serbia would recognise this opportunity.
Anne Bader, founder of the International Cybersecurity Dialogue, said that the most common security risks connected with the Big Data concept were the management of personal data, the lack of privacy and the exposure of our “digital footprint” to the corporations and companies managing systems and software for data analysis. “Through careful planning, analysis of potential risks and good management, some of these security threats can be anticipated and prevented. Networking and cooperation between the different players is of crucial importance in addressing the security risks,” concluded Anne Bader in her talk.
USEFUL LINKS:
Big Data Overview and Roadmap – presentation by Branko Primetica
Big Data and Cyber-Security: Multi Stakeholder Threats and Opportunities – presentation by Anne Bader
Chicago SmartData Platform: www.datasmart.ash.harvard.edu
Online security: www.domen.rs/bezbednost-na-internetu