Head of ITS NETICS Laboratory Dr Baskoro Adi Pratomo SKom MKom (left), explaining how to carry out a digital forensic test to get the magic value of a file

ITS Campus, ITS News — Continuing to develop the ITS Nabu platform, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS) again held Cyber Security Training on Wednesday (8/5) to help prepare for cyber attacks. This time, the activity was held at the Networking Technologies and Intelligent Cyber Security (NETICS) Laboratory of the ITS Informatics Department, which provided cyber security training for the team from the Data and Information Center (Pusdatin) of the Indonesian Ministry of Social Affairs (Kemensos).

For information, ITS Nabu is a platform created by the NETICS Laboratory of the ITS Informatics Department that provides a series of tests regarding cyber security. These tests aim to raise awareness and train the public about widespread cyber attacks. ITS Nabu implements an adaptive learning feature that allows users to practice on this platform with an adjusted difficulty level. The goal is efficiency and accuracy in understanding cyber security.

The head of the NETICS Laboratory, Dr Baskoro Adi Pratomo SKom MKom, said this training was part of a continued effort to develop the ITS Nabu platform. “It is hoped that this training can provide an understanding of how to deal with cyber security within the scope of the Ministry,” explained Baskoro.

Head of ITS NETICS Laboratory Dr Baskoro Adi Pratomo SKom MKom (second from left), explaining how to carry out a digital forensic test to get the magic value of a file

The Informatics Department lecturer feels this training is essential, considering the increasing number of cyber attacks targeting ministries in the last few months. These attacks certainly put vital government objects at risk. “So far, many attacks have targeted academic institutions and ministries. We want practitioners to be more aware and ready (to deal with them),” said Baskoro.

Furthermore, Baskoro explained that the first test was a digital forensic test. This test aims to test participants’ understanding of analyzing file types by identifying the magic value in the file format. “This test was given considering the widespread use of malware disguised as important files to break into cyber security,” he said.

One of the participants from the Indonesian Ministry of Social Affairs (Kemensos), Pusdatin, trying out ITS Nabu at the Cyber Security Training for the Ministry of Social Affairs at the ITS Informatics Department

The next test is the incident handling test. In this test, participants are asked to identify a website compromised by an attack. The main focus of this identification is to find out the weak sides of the website and information about initial attacks. “From this identification, participants can find out the evaluation of the website they are responsible for,” explained Baskoro.

Apart from these two tests, penetration testing is also intended to help participants understand the attack workflow from the attacker’s perspective. In this test, participants are asked to attack the targeted server computer using the attack tools provided. “Understanding the attacker’s perspective is critical to preventing attacks,” he added.

The Indonesian Ministry of Social Affairs (Kemensos) Data and Information Center (Pusdatin) team while taking tests at the Cyber Security Training at the ITS Informatics Department

The last test in this training is the malware analysis test. This test involves actual malware that will be injected into the participant’s computer. Participants were asked to analyze critical information about the malware. This aims to ensure that participants understand the information and characteristics of malware that can be detrimental.

Baskoro hopes that ITS Nabu can become one of the pioneers in cybersecurity training in Indonesia and the Asia Pacific. ITS Nabu will continue to develop to overcome cyber security problems, which have recently become a topic of conversation. The plan is for ITS Nabu to be officially launched next June. (ITS Public Relations)

Reporter: Ahmad Farhan Alghifari