Cyber Security students working in ECU's Cybersecurity Operations Centre.
ECU Master of Cyber Security graduate Nabila Farah.
The cyber heist known as the Bangladesh Bank Robbery, showed how hackers could navigate the global banking system, using administrative loopholes to execute a well-planned attack to transfer $81 million dollars to themselves.
Meanwhile, a local Bangladeshi student named Nabila watched this extraordinary event unfold. Her dad was one of the top Bankers in the country and his realisation of the importance of cybersecurity motivated Nabila the most.
"My inspiration to study cybersecurity came from other sources too," says Nabila. "Starting from watching cool hacking movies like War Games to reading Kevin Mitnick's book "The art of deception."
Nabila researched courses at universities worldwide and decided ECU was the best place to go. As an Australian centre of excellence for research and studies in cybersecurity, it made a lot of sense.
Expect the unexpected
Before Nabila started her studies, she thought that a cybersecurity course was only for the hardcore technical types. But in reality, it wasn't the whole truth.
She found that if someone is curious about technology, enjoys the thrill of solving complex problems, and embraces learning new things, they can find cybersecurity engaging and worthwhile.
It's also a subject where there's a growing number of women studying in the classes.
In fact, during her time at ECU, Nabila worked as a volunteer for the 'Girls Programming Network'. This is an ECU School of Science initiative, run for high school girls who are thinking about careers in code.
Happy landing
Coming from Bangladesh to study a Master of Cybersecurity in Australia and then landing a job that she has always dreamed of has been Nabila's happiest achievement.
She is currently working as a Cyber Security Consultant at KPMG Australia. Here, she gets to test the strength of security systems by hacking into them. It's a role that she's passionate about and wants to pursue further.
"By helping companies improve their security posture, you are not only helping to protect them, but also their customers," she says.
Nabila completed a 12-week work placement at CyberCX, a reputable cybersecurity company during her last semester at ECU and credits this opportunity with helping her to step into the industry.
Studying Cyber Security
Cyber Security is an area with high demand for skilled professionals like Nabila. If you're interested in stopping future bank heists or other acts of cybercrime, why not check out Cyber Security courses at ECU?
Cyber Security at ECU (3 min 40 secs).
