Student Interviews

Hisashi Kikuchi

I was transferred to the in-house CSIRT upon enrolment. The practical, work-related knowledge gained at IISEC can be used immediately in my company.

Expand your horizons through discussions with mature students from diverse backgrounds

When I worked in a department that checks under development code for bugs and vulnerabilities, I participated in a technical training course in Israel. I then became interested in developing secure software. My boss recommended IISEC to me and I enrolled through my company. The majority of students at this graduate school are working professionals, with a variety of backgrounds, ranging from government to business. In our discussions, we share opinions from different points of views, which broadened my own perspective. There were a lot of exercises, as well as lectures, and I learned from experience how an attacker thinks and tries to break through defences.

A rare opportunity to learn about cyber security in a systematic way

In the workplace, I didn't have the chance to gain knowledge in a systematic way just from my experience. Therefore, at IISEC, I am taking modules based on the "System Design Course" and the "Cyber Security and Governance Course" to learn cyber security extensively. The special programme ISS Square gave me the opportunity to study with postgraduate students from other universities and people from companies, which further broadened my knowledge. I am also working on malware analysis in my lab, where I am using several methods of identifying unknown malware and evaluating them, to find out which method is appropriate for currently prevalent malware.

Practical education at IISEC is useful for my in-house CSIRT work

In fact, I was transferred to the in-house CSIRT the same time that I enrolled in IISEC, and I am now the leader of the malware analysis team. The knowledge gained at IISEC is therefore directly relevant to my work. I sometimes bring my concerns from CSIRT work to IISEC and discuss them with professors and classmates. They often give me hints on how to resolve them, which helps me to analyse malware. Furthermore, during a company meeting, I presented honeypots I had learnt about in lectures, and we actually started to discuss the possibility of using them in my company. Thanks to the support of the company, I am able to go to this graduate school, and I hope to apply what I have learnt here to my work.

Hisashi Kikuchi
Hisashi Kikuchi
NTT COMWARE Corporation
Enrolled in April 2016
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