Keeping up with IT

“People, not keywords are at the centre of our search strategy,” said Dr Saadat M Alhashmi of the changing Internet trend	The world today is indeed borderless, thanks to breakthrough discoveries in Information Technology. We can share virtually anything from one end of the world to the other, from lecture notes, to the latest movie reviews, and unfortunately even our personal data. Experts from academia and MSC Malaysia Status Companies converged at Monash University Sunway campus in conjunction with the MSC Malaysia’s 3rd Research and Development (R&D) Series and IP Connect 2010. Head of School of Information Technology Prof Chris Messom welcomed the delegates saying: "This was an excellent opportunity for industry and academia to meet and share research that will lead to commercialisation" The yearly event themed ‘How Vulnerable Are You?’, was organised by the Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC) under its MSC Malaysia R&D initiatives and geared towards fostering closer collaboration between industry and academia.
Ms Pak Mei Yuet the Head of Technology Policy and Research of MDeC, highlighted emerging security issues saying: “As responsible Internet users, we have to be more vigilant with what we share with others, as people with malicious intents are always one step ahead.” Where social technology used to be impersonal and random, now it is all about relationships and loyalty, which is obtainable by observing communities and how an individual’s choices are heavily influenced by those around them. “People, not keywords are at the centre of our search strategy,” said Deputy Head of School of Information Technology, Dr Saadat M Alhashmi, during his talk ‘Next Generation Browsing with Personalised Search Engines’. “We trust what our friends and family like, so once personalised, search engines and advertisers will focus on this influence and customise our searches to include results that were ‘liked’ previously by those close to us,” Dr Saadat explained. Noting that the ‘one size fits all’ concept of search engines is gone, Dr Saadat believes that understanding individuals and their behaviours will be the way forward. “By just being in an online community, advertisements and even News sites are also highly customised to match the individual’s needs and status, without being intrusive,” he added. However, right behind these remarkable advancements, creeps the uncertainty of safety and legal issues that hamper our confidence in these ideal technologies. Mr Deepak Pillai, lawyer and law expert from Haryati Deepak Advocates & Solicitors, provided new insights to the dark side of Information Technology in his talk ‘New Technologies and the Legal Challenges They Pose’. “The law will always play catch-up to Information Technology,” Mr Deepak said, of the rapid evolution of Information technology and likewise, the mushrooming of computer crimes. Computer crimes such as online fraud, identity theft, hacking, phishing, and spamming are a global threat, “so it is a crucial time to call for cooperation between countries, as the perpetrator could be spamming Malaysians from the other side of the world,” Mr Deepak explained. “Malaysian cyberlaws are revised from time to time, and the Personal Data Protection Act 2010 will also be enforced,” he said. Users, too, must play their part. Other than not sharing our personal data online, Mr Deepak stressed that “we must also be aware of our personal settings on social sites and know the cyberlaws in whichever country we are in, and how they may serve to protect us.”