Student Interviews

Masaki Sugiu

Researching into "deception-based defence" to disrupt attacks by making them more difficult to penetrate, based on the assumption that the system will be intruded.

Learn all aspects of information security to ensure that no knowledge is lacking

I enrolled in IISEC when I was in my second year at the company. In my work, I provide security products for Internet gateways. In this job, I felt that my knowledge could be biased towards the characteristics of the company, the products used and the knowledge I acquired in the course of my work. I wanted to gain a broad general knowledge of information security, which is why I enrolled in this course. I took a wide range of lectures in my first year, with the exception of subjects that have little relevance to my work, such as Cryptography. Now, I have covered the areas I was lacking in, and I am fully capable of talking to customers and senior colleagues in the company. However, cyber-attacks evolve every day, so I will continue to study independently after graduation.

Deception techniques to raise the complexity required for an intrusion and to make the attacker give up

Active learning opportunities through hand-on exercises and practical training sessions are also a feature of IISEC. For example, on Saturdays, during the 3rd, 4th and 5th periods, we have "Information Security Technical Exercises I". In this class, students learn about vulnerability testing and intrusion through lectures, and gain a deeper understanding through the hands-on exercises. I don't get the chance to learn about these things properly, so it was very helpful. My Master's thesis is about "An intrusion prevention mechanism using a deception technique". This is based on the assumption that we cannot completely prevent attackers from entering networks illegally. The method already attracting attention overseas, is repeatedly providing different fake information to an intruder. This fake information increases the effort to reach the correct information, causing the attacker to give up the attack. I hope to use my Master's thesis as an opportunity to deepen my understanding of this technique, and eventually become a leading expert in this field when it becomes widely available.

IISEC is unique in the depth and breadth of contacts that can be made during your studies.

Before entering IISEC, I frequently heard from my seniors that "the human network is attractive", and I really felt it after I enrolled. Here I am able to talk to other students from various backgrounds, including government and security companies. As a fellow student, my presentation is taken seriously and discussed by people who are leading experts in their field. The knowledge may be the same everywhere, but the deep and wide contacts are unique to IISEC. The school offers a richness of experience that cannot be found in a correspondence course.

Masaki Sugiu
Masaki Sugiu
Hitachi Systems, Ltd.
Enrolled in April 2017
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