RISE Center at AUK holds lecture entitled, ‘Live Mobile Hacking’
The Center for Research in Informatics, Sciences and Engineering (RISE) at the American University of Kuwait (AUK)held a lecture on Thursday entitled, “Live Mobile Hacking: Malware Attacks and Data Protection,”delivered by Founder of KuwaitHackers.com, Basel Al-Othman. The lecture highlighted how vulnerable general mobile users are to malicious hacking attempts and introduced ways to ensure data protection against malware attacks. The event was open to member of the AUK community and the public.
RISE Director, Dr. Amir Zeid, welcomed the attendees to the interactive lecture that was aimed to provide an understanding of smartphone hacking threats and techniques. “We live in a world that is virtually wrapped into a net of rapidly evolving cutting-edge technologies. Our connectivity is greatly empowering, yet poses new points of vulnerability that we must be aware of,” Dr. Zeid noted, “To be able to navigate through the cyber threats that we may be vulnerable to, both collectively and individually, is key to what this lecture aims to achieve.”
To demonstrate how easily smartphones can be hacked, and how smartphone security operates, Founder of KuwaitHackers.com, Basel Al-Othman, made the audience witness an actual hacking attempt, instigated by himself, and hacked a smartphone live. “We practically live our lives online. It is imperative that we understand the risks involved,” Al-Othman said, “Credit card information, personal photos, sound files and chat messages may be in jeopardy, if one isn’t cautious of potential threats.” Al-Othman received his M.Sc. in Computer Science from the University of Hertfordshire, with a specialization in computer security. He is currently an Information Security doctoral candidate at De Montfort University in Leicester, UK. In addition to his work as a hacking instructor and penetration-testing expert, Al-Othman’s research interests include machine learning botnet detection and malware analysis for intrusion detection and prevention.
The AUK Center for Research in Informatics, Sciences, and Engineering (RISE) serves as AUK’s primary source for research and development activities, a bridge to industry, and an important venue for community outreach. RISE adapts an integrative model by forging connections between academic disciplines, local & international innovators, academia & industry, as well as technology & society.
The American University of Kuwait (AUK) is an independent, private, equal opportunity, and co-educational liberal arts institution of higher education. The educational, cultural and administrative structure, methods and standards of AUK are based on the American model of higher learning. The language of instruction is English.