In the past, the security field was generally limited to men. However, with the fast great expansion of the internet, information security has become more and more important. Therefore, women are studying, making, and developing security. Sookmyung Women’s University is not the exception: it has also begun to encourage women to study, make, and develop this field. The Sookmyung Times interviewed Choi Jieun, head of SISS, to find out about women in security.
Please introduce SISS and its activities.
SISS was established on December 15th, 2001 and it belongs to the Department of Computer Science. Sookmyunians not majoring in Computer Science are ineligible to apply. The club does both indoor and outdoor activities. First and second year students engage in group study titled Python*. Although we don’t have a special professional lecturer mentoring our team, upper year club seniors act as mentors. Third year students prepare individual projects and present their project in detail every Tuesday at 6 p.m. At the end of the semester, we host a seminar that highlights group projects worked on throughout the year. Outdoors activities include the Korea University Clubs of Information Security (KUSIS) forum, a student conference (INCOGNITO), and a collaborative seminar with Korea University and Hanyang University during the school vacation (KUSISWALL). Also, organizations such as Power of XX & KIDS CTF are involved. As all of these activities show, we are keenly interacting with other schools at the events.
SISS hosts the ‘Power of XX’ event on its own. Can you explain the event and preparation process?
The ‘Power of XX’ is a hacking contest strictly for women, which was first started four years ago. It is the sole responsibility of our security club. We create the situations and operate the contest by ourselves. The purpose of the contest is to encourage women to enter the security field. Women learn from traditional web design and about cryptography, algorithm, and IT. The preparation for this event begins in July and runs through till August when SISS contacts supporters. After contacting sponsors, we create a security situation and recruit participators. We evaluate participants’ responses and present an award to the first place winner. The response from challengers demonstrates us to complete satisfaction with the contest. Over the years, the participation rate has continued to increase, and we now even have foreign competitors applying to the event.
Please tell SMT readers about an activity that remains vivid in your memory. Also, what are the things club members can learn from SISS?
The KUSISSWALL seminar remains clear in my memory. It was the first time we announced our projects at an official event. We presented a method of searching using Wireshark** that utilizes an ID and password. Preparing for the event, all members became more interested in security. As SISS members, we gain a higher sense of interest in security due to the driving force of our peers and upper year seniors. SISS, in the past, was only concerned with basic knowledge about security, but today, we study, make, and develop security. Also, for the last 2 years, because we study in groups comprised of younger and older students, we share a lot of things. Finally, participation in various conferences and hosting contests develop students’ persuasiveness and attitude. Therefore, we are naturally driven to excel in this area.
* Python is an advanced language program created by ROSSOM
** Wireshark is a packet program that is used in network analysis and development of software.
