Once a week, members of E-COPS, the one and only information security club in Ewha, gather to discuss rising issues on the matter. In its name, E stands for Ewha and COPS for “Control of Program Security,” or police. Students interested in working in information security field had gathered and formed a club since 2013 that affiliates with Career Development Center (CDC)’s career club.
E-COPS participates in various security seminars and lectures and meets up regularly to discuss the issues and trends of the week on information security. To be prepared for cyber-attacks, they even practice web hacking and system hacking together. Since last winter break, they have begun to study to acquire a certificate, L i n u x m a s t e r, w h i c h t e s t s individual’s ability in operating desktops and server based on the Linux program. “ A l o n g w i t h t h e r e g u l a r sessions, we also volunteer in educating students about information security by visiting elementary, junior high and high schools,” said Yeo Na-gyeong, the former president of E-COPS. “We started volunteering to inform students about the importance of protecting information security and to make them get used to an unfamiliar area which is rising to be important. So, we planned to visit schools to give lectures on such topics as part of our LEAP volunteering program.”
A l o n g w i t h t h e r i s i n g importance of information security due to frequent information leakage incidences, the members of the club emphasized the necessity of educating people on information security.
“Recent scandal of Facebook illegally leaking users’ information has made people more alert on online crime,” added Yoo Ji-woo, the current president of E-COPS. “Since Internet is advancing at a rapid pace, the security needs to be reinforced accordingly and the public must be more aware on protecting their personal information that is vulnerable to abuse.” Yoo and Yeo advised students that they should always be alerted to security since preventing the leakage is the best solution to such crime. They recommended that students set a difficult password for their accounts and use alternative security programs to regularly examine virus that may be hidden in their personal computers. Public awareness of the frequently used hacking routes was also emphasized. However, if the crime had already taken place, visiting security experts for immediate help after the incident can prevent possible further leak of their information.
“To help students prevent encountering such incidences, we are putting efforts in expanding opportunities where students have better access to education on security,” Yeo said. “We also work on projects with other information security clubs in other schools to plan security conference for adolescents to enhance their awareness on these issues.” T h e f o r m e r a n d c u r r e n t presidents of E-COPS commented that since technology is advancing rapidly, insecurity of personal information will become a severer problem. They speculated that the area on information security will emerge as a promising field.
“We aim to inform people the severity of the problems on information leakage and the importance of securing personal information,” Yoo added. “As security pertains to everyone and is not restricted to certain individuals, we hope more people to take interest in the area and further explore it. We also want to share insights on such issues with various people that we welcome students from every major.” Sharing E-COPS’s ultimate goal, Yoo expressed her hopes that more students seek to join their club.
“We welcome all students and more activities are planned for this year,” Yeo said. “So, anyone interested in information security, visit our website and find out more about what we do. For my final word, I hope more women participate in this field and take up influential positions. And I believe joining E-COPS is a step toward such hope.”