00:00:00:00 - 00:00:23:00
Speaker 1
Welcome, everyone. Thanks for joining us. I'm pleased to meet with you all today. To let you know more about our graduate certificate in cyber security. My name is Genevieve Jordan. I'm a senior product manager at, RMIT Online, and I've been working with colleagues, in the Stem College here at RMIT on the design and delivery of this program.
00:00:23:02 - 00:00:47:03
Speaker 1
Firstly, though, I would like to acknowledge the Woi Wurrung and Boon Wurrung people of the eastern kulun nations on whose unceded lands we conduct the business of the university. I acknowledge their ancestors and elders, past and present. I also acknowledge the traditional custodians and their ancestors of the lands and waters across Australia. And joining me today, we've got, a really interesting panel.
00:00:47:05 - 00:01:08:09
Speaker 1
Welcome to Professor Iqbal Gondal. Iqbal is going to give us an overview of the program. He'll highlight what you'll be able to learn through it. How the program is structured, what you can expect from our teaching staff. Iqbal is associate dean for cyber security and software systems at RMIT, and he's the program manager for this graduate certificate in Cyber Security.
00:01:08:09 - 00:01:13:10
Speaker 1
And then we'll also hear from our RMIT Online's Marc Charlery
00:01:13:12 - 00:01:34:18
Speaker 1
Marc heads up RMIT Online's teams responsible for advising on student enrollments and marketing. He'll be talking a bit about how to apply for the program. Enroll in your first courses. And some of the key dates that you will need to know. And most importantly, we'll have time for questions. So feel free to start popping questions in the chat during the webinar.
00:01:34:20 - 00:01:54:11
Speaker 1
We'll be able to answer as many as we can as we go. And then we'll try and make time, for some more questions at the end. Note also that we are recording this session, and we'll be able to share that recording, with folks afterwards. So I might move on just to talk a little bit about some of the details of the program.
00:01:54:13 - 00:02:17:12
Speaker 1
Before handing over to, my colleagues here. So the program duration is equivalent to six months full time. Most of our students, however, do it part time over 12 months. And that's really just that they can fit around their work and other commitments that they may have to gain the graduate certificate you complete four courses. So there's two core courses, and you choose another two from a list of four.
00:02:17:14 - 00:02:41:05
Speaker 1
So you get to tailor your program in a little bit. To your interest areas. And I'll let Iqbal talk in a bit more detail shortly, about the structure of the program and the curriculum. Last year we gave the program quite a significant revamp. There's a new structure which gives you more choice. We've reduced the amount of mass in the program, and that's really just to reflect contemporary practice in the sector.
00:02:41:09 - 00:03:02:09
Speaker 1
So, you know, it's going to be an up to date program and relevant to the real world. In terms of how you learn in this program. It is taught wholly online. And many of the learning activities can be completed at a time that suits you. You don't have to attend campus. You don't have to be locked in to having lots of timetabled classes.
00:03:02:11 - 00:03:22:09
Speaker 1
Instead, you do some learning individually. You'll be part of a group of learners to share ideas with, and you'll have access to an expert learning facilitator for each course. You'll also be able to join webinars at key points in each teaching period. Or if you can't make the webinar on time, you can watch those as recordings.
00:03:22:11 - 00:03:44:12
Speaker 1
Our assessments are very much project based and intended to be really authentic and real world. So that gives you a chance to create projects for a real world scenario. So again, that's really all about making sure that you can be confident that what you're learning is up to date and really relevant. There is some flexibility in the number of courses you take at any given point in time as well.
00:03:44:14 - 00:04:02:07
Speaker 1
So many people do one course per teaching period. But if you wish, you can accelerate that. And if the courses are available, you might be able to take two or more. Alternatively, if you need to take a break, we want to take a break. You can do that to take a leave of absence and then pick up where you left off afterwards.
00:04:02:09 - 00:04:31:11
Speaker 1
You'll also have access to our team of Student Success Advisors, so they can assist you with all sorts of things like submitting assessments, applying for an extension if you need to, special consideration, accessing tech support where that's needed, or even accessing the library's online collection. So they're very much your support crew. From really start to finish in the program, something else you might be interested in finding out a bit about our pathways.
00:04:31:13 - 00:04:55:22
Speaker 1
So once you've completed the Grad cert in cyber security, you can also continue on to the Master of Cyber Security if you wish. It's an on campus program. But you will get credit for four courses that you've already done as part of it. And then that means that you'll be able to complete your masters more quickly. The program itself is very much industry connected, and this is another reason why we're really pleased to have warick on board today.
00:04:55:24 - 00:05:25:04
Speaker 1
Our teaching staff have relevant experience from industry as well as experience naturally in teaching and researching in higher education context. And it's been great, as I say, to have Palo Alto Networks on board to help shape the experience for you. We'll hear from Warick shortly. In addition, the School of Science, which is in, the broader Stem college, it has an industry advisory committee, which provides feedback on the currency of all of our programs, including this one and the changing needs of industry.
00:05:25:04 - 00:05:40:13
Speaker 1
So that's also a really important part of what we do. So next, I'm going to hand over to Iqbal to talk about the program itself. What you'll learn the different electives you can choose and a bit more about the learning experience. So over to you Iqbal.
00:05:40:15 - 00:06:07:09
Speaker 2
Thank you very much Genevieve for giving that overall overview of the program and what's the sort of, you know, student can do various different streams. So I will talk about first of all, I'm a professor in cybersecurity, and I also look after this particular area here in RMIT as well. So we have got about 30 staff members, which is on campus to do all the research and also teaching and support
00:06:07:10 - 00:06:37:13
Speaker 2
RMIT online, the program, which is really about a graduate certificate, in cyber security. So when we looked at, revamping the program, our motivation was that how we make sure that it meets the industry expectations. And we had extensive consultation with industry, not only domestically, nationally, but also internationally as well. We wanted to make sure that it meets requirments and the needs of the industry.
00:06:37:15 - 00:07:11:16
Speaker 2
And we also looked at that of the cohort of students who would be joining. They would be from the diverse background. They would be coming from the non-technical backgrounds that have changed some pathways in their careers. So we cater for all of them. So we wanted to make sure that we in this program, we prepared them first with the core body of the knowledge, which is, you know, they learn about some of the computing related areas first, so then they can do the advanced courses much more with the ease and understanding.
00:07:11:18 - 00:07:37:13
Speaker 2
So that's kind of the way a program this goes in the very beginning, we give a very broad introduction about the introduction to cyber security, where you learn about the cryptography. We have to learn the need of the cyber security, why we need it, what type of the services are available. Then you are working with another industry where to find them and also network security.
00:07:37:14 - 00:08:02:16
Speaker 2
And we use practical tools at that level as well. So it gives the student hands on experience and of course cyber security cannot be anywhere if there's no networks. So we computer network telecommunication network these days we are we know IoT devices networks. So we teach that as well as we make sure that the students are also a well aware of that.
00:08:02:18 - 00:08:33:12
Speaker 2
And one of the fundamental thing when you go to that industry, it's one is to compliance with the other tasks. But in some cases you may have to do some programing as well where you want to write some tools. And so we teach you Python programing language, which is the easiest way is to introduce the programing. So after doing these courses students are ready to do the other courses after that, which they will take a lot of lot of they would benefit out of that.
00:08:33:14 - 00:09:09:20
Speaker 2
So what other area of research if we know that in cybersecurity, systems, they generate an enormous amount of data. So that data Warrick knows better than me that, you know, these type of the attacks could be hidden somewhere in the data. So to finding that needle and the hay we also offer practical data science with Python as well, so that you can use that sort of strategies to how to process that data, how to find that insight into that data, how to use various tools.
00:09:09:22 - 00:09:33:13
Speaker 2
And that means that that gives you a unique scale in the industry, enormous amount of the jobs in that area as well. So then other is ethical hacking and security testing, enormous amount of work. So the job market there for that particular area, they can ask you for the compliance purposes, making sure that we can if we can hack our systems.
00:09:33:19 - 00:10:02:00
Speaker 2
So that's better. So that is a practice which we really follow that we ethical hacking is we we teach that one to students so they can go and practice their own workplaces as well. And that can assure their systems are secure. So if there are any vulnerabilitys there, they can so pass those vulnerabilities. And the important thing is not cyber security, not always technical solution.
00:10:02:00 - 00:10:33:05
Speaker 2
It is also about the strategy that governance and management side as well. So in this program there is an elective there as well. If you wanted to go into that area as well, that teaching, the way it happens, we we have the very experienced course coordinators, we have got our very well placed industrie aware teaching staffs, online support is provided through our, our web pages.
00:10:33:07 - 00:11:04:24
Speaker 2
And you can do your assessments flexibly. So, you know, there's a certain deadline, given but you can do at a time. And during that period of the time, you can ask the questions. The support is provided by the staff members who are working with you. And similarly, if there is any kind of structure related issue, of course, through RMIT online, you can reach to me as well about the structure wise, which can align better with the career where you want to go.
00:11:05:02 - 00:11:33:15
Speaker 2
What type of the electives could be possible there Some other pathways are that the when you have completed this program. So let's Genevieve has already talked about you will get the credit going to the Master of cyber Security if you wanted to go into specialization. So there's all information is given on our website. The important thing is looking at the when you have completed this certificate you are ready.
00:11:33:17 - 00:12:04:15
Speaker 2
Lot of jobs in the entire industry which could be software test. Sorry. The security testing area security analyst for example. You know doing research in the area using the data to seek some insight about the cyber security compliance area. So it prepares you for those roles as well. So I would say that it provides the flexibility it provides the the knowledge, it considers your, where you are coming from.
00:12:04:16 - 00:12:24:06
Speaker 2
Are you are having the Bachelor degree. Your entry is from there. Either you are coming with the industry experience that can be recognized as well. So these sort of various things, then if there are any more inquiries in this area i’d be more than happy to respond to any question and answer there are. Iqbal
00:12:24:06 - 00:12:35:22
Speaker 1
I say there's a couple of questions in the chat, actually, about the, projects that students will undertake. As part of the degree, are you able to give some examples of the kinds of projects that are incorporated?
00:12:35:24 - 00:13:01:10
Speaker 2
Okay. So broadly, I would talk about in cybersecurity, various different programs, we call them capstone projects. So there are two types, in fact three types of the areas where we can do. One could be the project which you student and teaching staff member. They agreed on particular project, unique area which you want to work. They can work with you.
00:13:01:12 - 00:13:25:13
Speaker 2
And that project could be over the duration of one semester. You know, and and there's close supervision takes place. And in the end, there is an outcome which is, you know, demonstratable and ah there is a report or whatever the outcome is of that project. That's one type of the project. Other projects that come a lot of our projects come from the industry.
00:13:25:15 - 00:13:46:01
Speaker 2
We have a lot of industry partners, like, for example, you know, Palo Alto type. So, you know, many others, they give us their projects. So they have like industry spots with the student work with the industry for one semester. They want to complete that project under the supervision of the staff member and the industry partner as well.
00:13:46:03 - 00:14:09:17
Speaker 2
And the third would be it's a in some programs we do allow as a industry attachment, which is the internship programs as well. So we can fully hundred percent work with the industry. But that depends what program you are in. So there are different ways to go to that one. So it's a very negotiable projects where we established what type of the projects to have would like to do.
00:14:09:19 - 00:14:20:21
Speaker 2
We have got specialized lecturers who take care of these projects, particularly, so they can provide a lot more documents of that.
00:14:20:23 - 00:14:29:02
Speaker 1
Thank you for that. And the other part of that question was, are there exams. And, the answer to that is no, there are not exams.
00:14:29:04 - 00:14:49:17
Speaker 2
Now, we do not have our exams and RMIT it's, in semester assessments, which is a very much industry linked assessments. So let's say you could have the three assignments, might be a small projects, which you are doing might be a presentation you are making based on your work, what you have done.
00:14:49:19 - 00:14:59:20
Speaker 2
So it's all Depends on course to course different. But we do not have exams final. So you will not have to worry about the final exams.
00:14:59:22 - 00:15:13:21
Speaker 1
It's often a question that comes up, because I know it's a concern for a lot of students. Thank you. Iqbal, I will hand over now to Marc Charlery just to talk a bit about the application and enrollment processes and some of the key dates that apply.
00:15:13:23 - 00:15:38:12
Speaker 3
Thanks Gen, and Hello everybody. So maybe I'll go into the application process first because we've tried to make it a streamlined simple as possible. As you'll see in the chat, I've just posted a program page which has a decent snapshot of all of the information relating to the program. It also allows you the ability to download a brochure linked to the program to
00:15:38:14 - 00:15:55:20
Speaker 3
If you want to apply directly, you can also do that from that page. Now, we do have a team of enrollment advisors, as Gen mentioned before, and they're ready to assist you anytime between Monday and Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and you can contact them.
00:15:55:22 - 00:16:02:09
Speaker 1
If you want to speak up a bit, Mark or get closer to your speaker, to microphone.
00:16:02:11 - 00:16:03:11
Speaker 3
Is there any better?
00:16:03:13 - 00:16:04:11
Speaker 1
Yes.
00:16:04:13 - 00:16:27:03
Speaker 3
Yes. Okay. I'll just hold it like this then. So yeah, I'm not sure if you missed anything, but I'll just go to that. I posted a page which is our program page relating to the online Grad cert of cyber security. Okay, good. And yeah, lots of information on that. You can also download a brochure that covers all key modules, around the program.
00:16:27:08 - 00:16:50:18
Speaker 3
And that page also gives you the ability to apply directly if you need any assistance. We have a team of enrollments advisors who are available to talk to you anytime between Monday and Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and I'll just post the number in there, too. If you download a brochure, you'll actually float into our CRM, which is like, customer relations management platform.
00:16:50:20 - 00:17:16:21
Speaker 3
And advisors will proactively contact you if need be. Once you've done the application, you'll go through or once you're ready to submit your application to go through to a direct page. So the application will flow directly through to the Stem admissions team. And typically we look to turn around those within 3 to 5 days. If there is additional information required and enrollment advisors will be in touch or the admissions team
00:17:16:21 - 00:17:34:23
Speaker 3
We'll be in touch with you directly. And again, our advisors will be able to assist you through that process. In terms of the key dates bare with me, because my laptop was just on something a bit silly
00:17:35:00 - 00:17:56:24
Speaker 3
Okay, so for teaching period 3 which is the upcoming period in July, the last day to apply will be the 23rd of June. So you still got a few weeks left to get the applications in. The last day to accept will be the 26th of June, and then the last day to enroll will be. the 4th of July. Classes will begin on the 7th of July.
00:17:57:01 - 00:18:19:12
Speaker 3
Now, you will be able to access some of the learning materials from the 30th and about a week before, and that's typically how we open it up to be able to familiarize yourself, and during that week, if not before as Gen mentioned before our student success team will be in touch to help you with orientation. I think that's it for me.
00:18:19:14 - 00:18:24:15
Speaker 3
Other any questions related to the admissions process?
00:18:24:17 - 00:18:47:15
Speaker 1
I can see there's some questions in the chat of a more general nature. So what we might do, Marc if you're comfortable, is someone actually hand over to Warwick to talk about, careers with a graduate in, cyber security? And then we'll come back to some of the questions that are in the chat, which are more general in nature, but I guess people can just keep putting their questions in the chat as we go.
00:18:47:17 - 00:19:01:11
Speaker 1
But why don't we hand over to Warwick for now? And it'd be great to hear from you. Warwick around the types of jobs students can use. Having done, a grad cert in cyber security, how people progress in the industry a bit about your experiences, that would be fantastic. Thanks.
00:19:01:13 - 00:19:25:13
Speaker 3
Yeah. No worries. So everyone, my name's Warwick Kane ive worked in, the IT industry and the Cyber industry for 20 plus years now. And progressed from sort of working at ISP and, and in sort of networking equipment manufacturers and the like, and spent the last eight years now at, Palo Alto Networks. For those who don't know, Palo Alto Networks is probably the lot.
00:19:25:13 - 00:19:47:00
Speaker 3
Or is the largest cyber security company in the world. We look after all of the the top, targets in the world. We are probably one of the top targets ourselves, given that everyone would love to get into our source code to then get into everybody else. And and we have to protect, we are constantly basically evolving and protecting customers around the world.
00:19:47:02 - 00:20:07:20
Speaker 3
Now, in terms of career pathways, it's probably the most important thing that everyone almost and all that is to if I do this, what am I going to be able to do and where am I going to be able to go? The good thing is, it really is. You've got so many different pathways, right? So when you first start out in your career, early career, there is lots of different entry level positions.
00:20:07:20 - 00:20:40:00
Speaker 3
There's not a single way in, there's plenty of different ways you can start at things like a security analyst role or a, security operations center where you're an analyst right, where you're basically helping look after customers. You're looking at the security logs, you're looking to identify where, attackers might be trying to come in. And, penetrate a customer's network and helping to stop that to nothing to escalate to that level two level three type engineers, to a block on that, and to kick to kick bad guys out.
00:20:40:01 - 00:21:02:17
Speaker 3
Right. So and you can obviously progress from there into level two, level three type roles. There's also things like standard I.T networking support, right where you might also have a security focus. Right. So there's lots of different um ways you can come in when you get sort of a little experience things like penetration testing or ethical hacking, which I was talking about before.
00:21:02:17 - 00:21:32:15
Speaker 3
Well, we use tools like Kali Linux and other things where you can actually go in and run penetration tests against a customer. Obviously they're paying you or paying your company to, to allow you to actually do that. And they're expecting these things to happen and you try and attack and basically provide them a report as to what you found ways if you were able to get in, what you able to get in, and then move laterally from sort of a front end web server to the crown jewels and steal people's personal information and the like
00:21:32:17 - 00:21:51:04
Speaker 3
So people customers are always wanting to do this on a regular basis because they need to. they need to know where the holes are, where the gaps are. Things like being able to be a security architect. And so how do we how do we actually architect solutions to defend against these attacks? Right. And where the holes what's coming up.
00:21:51:04 - 00:22:17:05
Speaker 3
What are the industry trends. What do we need to be able do things like digital forensics analysts as well. So if things happen and there is an attack being able to be that forensics analysts after the fact. And so they came in and they attracted here, then moved so that to this point they stole this. they lived inside the network for a certain amount of time, be able to provide reports and the like around the forensics of an actual incident.
00:22:17:07 - 00:22:46:16
Speaker 3
There's so many different jobs around and governance and risk is probably the other big one and leadership. Right. So where or we run that governance and risk across the board to actually say these are the things that we need to do, advising boards, security now has a seat at most company board tables because it is one of the number one risks about a company going from going gangbusters to being destroyed overnight by losing that trust.
00:22:46:16 - 00:23:04:22
Speaker 3
You can also think of the Optus hack. The Medibank hack all these hacks that have happened where they don't necessarily destroy the company. but I'll tell you the brand damage and the loss of revenue and the like. Is so significant that in the company boards. Now, want cyber security do you talk to that on every single meeting.
00:23:04:24 - 00:23:29:18
Speaker 3
So there's a real significant career in cyber security, talking about some of the trends that are actually happening, at the moment as well. So the big one at the moment is really, really around AI. All right. So as everybody knows, AI is exploding. Right. And it's not just about the generative AI. It's about using AI to actually defend networks and to defend, companies front ends
00:23:29:18 - 00:24:02:12
Speaker 3
Right. So why have, an alert that someone has to respond to if we can trust AI to respond for us by plugging in that automation, building complex flowcharts over our own playbooks, as we call them to, you have to say, when we see this do is do the do this do this, do this, have 100 steps and only ask right at the end, potentially for a security analyst, are you do you agree with me during the final step to block, or do you agree with you closing arguments or there's all these things happening now?
00:24:02:14 - 00:24:21:24
Speaker 3
And we're defending against more and more complex AI environments where the attackers are using it as well. But there are things ransomware used to be a thing where people want to try to manually come in on an attack. It's no longer a ransomware where It's manual. It's ransomware as a service, right? The attackers themselves, they don't even know what they're doing.
00:24:21:24 - 00:24:43:06
Speaker 3
They're actually subscribing to a service, to an attacker service and saying, please attack this company. For me, it is it has become monetized. It's become a billion a multi-billion dollar industry where people are offering their services to other people. And just saying yep I don't want I don't want responsibility it. ill let you take it. You take it all just off of the capability.
00:24:43:08 - 00:25:10:05
Speaker 3
So things are really, really changing also around quantum computing. Right. So quantum computing is going to change the game and evolution as I tell you where current encryption standards are going to be blown away. So where where's the industry in Palo Alto in particular are getting ready for a post-quantum world. What I mean by that is we're starting to introduce post-quantum ciphers and things like that that can't be broken.
00:25:10:07 - 00:25:31:00
Speaker 3
All right. There's a there's a there's a concept of actually save and replan crack later Right, where people can actually if they're in the network they can save your traffic, they can save the encrypted stuff. And when the, when they get access to a quantum computer replay it and crack it and pull that information out. So we're getting ready for that and trying to prevent those sorts of attacks.
00:25:31:00 - 00:25:57:13
Speaker 3
Well, it's an ever growing industry. You'll constantly be learning, which is a good and bad thing. But, most people I think that are going to be interested in this. We all we all love to continuously learn. Right. So there will be a continuous learning experience for you in, in this industry. And if you think about the security challenge challenges as well around cyber security, there's a massive, skill shortage and it's only getting worse.
00:25:57:13 - 00:26:23:24
Speaker 3
Right? So in terms of job security, in terms of the salaries that you'll earn at the moment, I don't see it going down. I don't see getting easier and easier to get to get roles and get jobs, especially if you have such a great start as getting our, graduate certificate from RMIT Online And so being able to get that will get you into the industry very, very quickly, get you into a, a medium, a medium level role.
00:26:24:01 - 00:26:36:23
Speaker 3
And I'll kick start your career for you. So it's a great idea to look at, to look at doing that. Graduate certificate I'll pull a cast back for now unless there’s any other questions?
00:26:37:00 - 00:26:56:20
Speaker 1
There are some questions coming in through the chat, so we'll come to those. But thank you. Warwick That was really interesting. Certainly a field where things just keep on moving. And there was a question I noticed about AI So I think you've partially answered that, already too, which is fantastic. I'll pick up on a couple of the questions, that are sort of practical in nature, if you like.
00:26:56:20 - 00:27:29:08
Speaker 1
Initially. And then we'll move to some other ones. So there's a question, are you able to do this with a full time job? The short answer is yes. The program is designed for people who are juggling the program with other commitments, whether it be work or otherwise. As I said, most students choose to do one course at a time and work through it that way, and we tend to advise students to allow somewhere in the order of 10 to 15 hours per week of study time across their own individual learning, plus other learning and webinars and other activities that they may be doing.
00:27:29:10 - 00:27:53:03
Speaker 1
So it's possible to do a second course at a time. That obviously is quite a time commitment. Most people do the one at a time, but it is possible to do multiple subjects if you're in a position to support that. And then there's another question there I see around seeing there are no exams. Is the course a competency based, course like tafe or marks based course
00:27:53:05 - 00:28:15:08
Speaker 1
It is a higher education program. So a university qualification, it is a graduate certificate. So it's not a Tafe program. And students do get a mark. It's not competency based. Students will get a mark usually represented as a score out of 100. And then that gets converted through to, a descriptive title as well. But so it's not competency based.
00:28:15:08 - 00:28:37:21
Speaker 1
So it can be quite clear about that. Information about fees is on our website. And Jemima has shared the link there. For the full graduate certificate, the four courses we're looking at 1488. Oh, and that works out to 3720 per course. You can use fee help, to manage those payments if, if you're eligible.
00:28:37:23 - 00:28:58:14
Speaker 1
But more information about that is on our website. Just can I come back to this question about AI? And Zayns put in a question. Is AI going to have any impact on this industry Warwick I think you've given us some really good examples there. Iqbal, I wondered if you also wanted to, weigh in here on your thoughts because it's such an important thing.
00:28:58:14 - 00:29:02:02
Speaker 1
It's such a topical area at the moment as well.
00:29:02:04 - 00:29:37:24
Speaker 2
Definitely. I just I wanted to give an example. I attended a conference last year, just the it's the government's they get together in Singapore. The main topic was AI cyber security and quantum. These three elements together they would disrupt the cybersecurity area. Particular AI and quantum both when they come into play. So yes, AI can be utilised of course in both ways AI is can be used for defending purposes, of course cannot operate.
00:29:38:04 - 00:30:04:21
Speaker 2
And Warwick has talked about, it can be automated solutions. Then the finding lab would be that you can, you know, presenting that solution to that. Analyst and then devising that. So but these solutions, which are AI solutions they can be attacked as well because they are trained with the data. So their behavior changes if their training patterns they change.
00:30:04:23 - 00:30:40:02
Speaker 2
So we need to defend these. Even AI solutions as well, which are actually protecting our, assets. In fact, if we look at the other side of that, the backward side of things, the cyber attackers, they can use AI as well now to design new attacks as well. So it is important for us to make use of AI far better than them, so we can win so AI is a very much part and parcel of developing, making decision, providing the solutions.
00:30:40:04 - 00:30:53:02
Speaker 2
And so that's why I would say that, you know, we can't live without it. AI mean, it's solves a lot of our problems, but at the same time, we need to defend AI solutions as well. At the same.
00:30:53:02 - 00:31:09:13
Speaker 1
Time. And another question, I think, for you, Iqbal, do you believe in depth coding knowledge is required for the industry? Obviously the industry is changing all the time. Coding is part of the program. Can you talk a bit more about that?
00:31:09:15 - 00:31:44:05
Speaker 2
Okay. First of all, the coding which we are introducing in this particular program, that's a Python based programing, which is very easy to learn. First of all, the second is that it depends on the nature of the job you are going into and what that job is. In some roles, coding might be not needed. Even so, you are more using the tools to defend to looking at the vulnerabilities, report, generating reports, you know, assessing the cyber security aspects of those.
00:31:44:07 - 00:32:08:12
Speaker 2
But in some cases you may have to do the coding. In fact, we call it the one role is called the malware and reverse engineering, where in fact you are given that you have the role where you are trying to understand the behavior of these malware, these malicious softwares. So that is where you really need to know quite good depth coding as well.
00:32:08:14 - 00:32:14:19
Speaker 2
So it depends what. And those jobs are a little bit advanced level job. They are normally not an entry level job. So even.
00:32:14:21 - 00:32:16:13
Speaker 3
So.
00:32:16:15 - 00:32:22:01
Speaker 2
Depends you know where we are. So it might be Warwick can talk about a little bit more on that.
00:32:22:03 - 00:32:46:09
Speaker 3
Yeah I'll probably jump in there. Right. So in depth coding you're exactly right. I would say 80% of the jobs that currently do not need in-depth coding, but there is probably 20% of the jobs where you absolutely do reverse malware analysis. A great example Iqbal came up with, but also sometimes plugging the gaps where the toolsets that you have may not do exactly what you want.
00:32:46:11 - 00:33:08:01
Speaker 3
So you might want to write a Python script or something to automate a particular function, because otherwise you're needing to hire staff to do manual work constantly. And it's much easier to write a Python script. So there are some elements where you need small amounts of coding skills. There are jobs where you need in-depth, but I but a lot of jobs do not require any.
00:33:08:01 - 00:33:26:08
Speaker 3
It's more around, especially looking at governance risk and compliance and the like those are the jobs where it's more the leadership and the thought leadership and setting the standards. That's not where you need it. It's more around that response. Right. Type of role.
00:33:26:10 - 00:33:42:00
Speaker 1
Thank you. And clearly a good question too. Another question is around the job recruitment process. And the question is, is the job recruiting process in cyber security the same as software development recruiting process Warwick I'm going to hand to you first.
00:33:42:05 - 00:34:01:10
Speaker 3
Yeah. No, I definitely not. I think software development recruiting. A lot of the time. People will ask, you know, as a part of the recruiting process, they'll ask you to do some software development to prove your skills doesn't happen in cyber security. We're not going to put you in front of a console inside to check this and this and that sort of thing.
00:34:01:10 - 00:34:18:09
Speaker 3
It's going to be more of a question and answer type. Recruitment process is generally, and I do a lot of recruiting myself. I'm actually part of the hiring process. At PaloAlto Networks, it's tell me about a scenario where you've done this. So tell me about how you would approach this. These are the types of questions we ask.
00:34:18:09 - 00:34:29:04
Speaker 3
It's it's not going to be a I get in front of a console and show me how you would do this. It's going to be more questions.
00:34:29:06 - 00:34:32:15
Speaker 1
And Iqbal Do you have any further thoughts or?
00:34:32:15 - 00:35:00:03
Speaker 2
So that's that's a very much is the because again, it depends on the what area you are going into. And of course, the questions and the knowledge which they would need in industry when they are doing the interview process, they would look at that. Does that person has those capabilities? In that case, you know, and software engineering, of course, within that area you need, you need to know how to develop softwares.
00:35:00:05 - 00:35:30:01
Speaker 2
So that might be they wanted to test that. That person knows, here, most of the time it won't be. It's more about knowing about the concepts about the overall understanding about cyber security. And more important is really understanding the needs. What are the industries needs are and how to provide that solution, how to work with the customers to understanding, how to pick up where could be different abilities and then devising the solution.
00:35:30:04 - 00:35:36:15
Speaker 2
Problem solving is a big problem. There are needed in this area.
00:35:36:17 - 00:35:58:06
Speaker 1
Terrific. Thank you. A couple more questions. Sam is asking if we can elaborate on the pathway to the master's program. So, as I mentioned, the grad certificate is 4 courses. Or in our world, we call that 48 credit points. So students who have completed that graduate certificate can move directly into the masters of cybersecurity.
00:35:58:12 - 00:36:21:20
Speaker 1
And Iqbal’s also looking after that program, and get credit for all of those 48 credit points or those four courses out of the Masters. So that means you don't have to do four courses that you otherwise would have had to do as part of that master's program. And a question about CSPs, we don't actually have CSPs or Commonwealth supported places for this program at the moment.
00:36:21:22 - 00:36:50:16
Speaker 1
We have the full Fees that I mentioned earlier. However, we do have, fee help. So students are able to defer their payments of those fees if they're eligible for that program. So that's the answer to that one for now. A comment, I guess, every job that I looked at in, computer software, they want you to have at least a minimum 12 months experience or.
00:36:50:18 - 00:37:01:18
Speaker 1
Oh, sorry, sorry. In cyber security every job that I looked at in cyber security, they want you to have at least a minimum of 12 months experience Warwick Is that your experience? Well.
00:37:01:20 - 00:37:26:11
Speaker 3
Not not it's not that. It depends on the role that you're going into. Right. So as I sort of talked about earlier, security operations centers or security analyst type roles, if you've got the, the graduate certificate, you don't need the experience. Right? Then they are dying for people. Right. And so the security operation centers and low entry level roles, they can't fill the roles.
00:37:26:11 - 00:37:45:15
Speaker 3
Right. So you don't necessarily need that 12 months experience. That's where you get that 12 months experience. Right. That is that entry level role you need to go into. And you will learn a lot by doing that as well. You'll be using tools like those, security incident and event management, scene tool. You'll be you'll be using tools such as a firewall.
00:37:45:15 - 00:38:08:21
Speaker 3
You'll be looking at a XTR OR EDR tools to be able to identify incidents. You'll be swiveling between toolsets. Right. To be able to actually help identify instance, tell them when they're positive. False positive positive. What needs to actually happen escelating to level two and 3 As I mentioned, obviously if you try to go in at a small senior role and they're going to need experience, right?
00:38:08:23 - 00:38:30:16
Speaker 3
But there are definitely a lot of roles you can go and apply for that dont need, the experience. They will want you to prove that hey your your keen or your, you're really excited about their role. There's going to be an interview process, so you'll need to turn up and be very positive and get through that. That first part coz it is competitive.
00:38:30:17 - 00:38:54:16
Speaker 3
But if you if you show the right things, and I know a lot of a lot of my friends and a lot of people that are working with, mentoring, they've been able to get some experience straight out of university or straight and straight out of highschool by doing a CCA course. All right. But obviously you'll have a lot, much, a lot better chance if you've done a cyber security course and and than not.
00:38:54:18 - 00:38:56:15
Speaker 1
Terrific thanks Warwick
00:38:56:15 - 00:39:13:09
Speaker 1
Good. Another question, from Laverne, what are the advantages of studying cybersecurity over other computer science graduate certificates, such as software engineering and AI? Who wants to take this first.
00:39:13:09 - 00:39:14:12
Speaker 1
Iqbal.
00:39:14:14 - 00:39:57:08
Speaker 2
Yeah. So again, you know, it's depend on your interest. One thing is that the second is a job market as well, because cybersecurity is really, really a lot of opportunities there. Of course in software engineering and data science and AI area. There are opportunities in those areas as well. But this is a very specialized area. Cybersecurity and Warwick would be able to talk about that how the progression of the career, it's sort of like there's a pathway, you know, after a certain number of years, you know, from entry level you can progress up higher level up to, I think maybe chief information security officer level.
00:39:57:10 - 00:40:17:09
Speaker 2
You know, I don't know how long it takes. But again, you know, not everybody becomes so. But, you know, you need to develop leadership to have the capabilities as well. And sort of so there is a lot of demand in this area, in the private sector and in the government sector as well. It depends where you wanted to go.
00:40:17:11 - 00:40:50:12
Speaker 2
So that's the reason we are seeing a lot of students coming to our programs. Either they are undergraduate, either they are certificate or that masters program in cybersecurity. So there is a lot of lot of student that's switching from computer science in many cases to cybersecurity. In fact, sometimes you can do the combination as well. You know, you can do that specialization in computer science, but you can do major also in in security, minor in cyber security to complement your skills as well.
00:40:50:14 - 00:40:54:04
Speaker 2
maybe work then talk about a little bit more than that.
00:40:54:06 - 00:41:18:08
Speaker 3
Yeah I think Iqbal covered it pretty well. It really comes down to your your interest and where you want it to go. Right. So if you if you've got a really clear definition of where you want to go and you want to be in cyber security, then do the cybersecurity, more so if you're still not sure, and it's okay to not be sure you can do computer science or other other courses, that doesn't mean you can't shift your career.
00:41:18:13 - 00:41:40:18
Speaker 3
You can always shift around and and do things you just need to learn again. Right. And as as we mentioned earlier, this is an ever evolving industry. You're always going to be learning anyway, right? So there's no reason why you can't shift. But where your interest is is where you're going to get the best results. And your career will start to will naturally gravitate to your interest, right?
00:41:40:18 - 00:41:55:06
Speaker 3
That's what you're going to have the most fun. That's where you'll be the most successful. That that's always the advice is if you've got a real natural interest and a natural curiosity, go down that path until until it proves otherwise.
00:41:55:08 - 00:42:16:23
Speaker 1
Always good advice, I think. Next one, I think I'll pass this to you. Marc Do you have any advice for someone considering this graduate certificate but also studying full time? So a question around sort of have how do you balance workloads, while doing a course as well as other aspects of your life?
00:42:17:00 - 00:42:38:17
Speaker 3
I mean, I think the key is to manage your study load. I don't think you should be overloading yourself in these instances, because you're just not going to give yourself enough time to ingest all the information that you need. So I think you'd have to consider that pretty carefully whether you'd want to take on another form of study while you're currently in full time study.
00:42:38:19 - 00:42:46:22
Speaker 3
Yeah. The the courses and programs can be pretty time consuming. And you want to give yourself the best chance for success.
00:42:46:24 - 00:43:06:14
Speaker 1
Great. Thanks, Marc And as I mentioned earlier, students can take more than one course at a time if they wish, but they can also, on the other hand, take a break. A leave of absence if they need and then come back to their studies afterwards. So that can be very helpful. For a lot of people, we might have time really just for maybe one last question.
00:43:06:16 - 00:43:34:00
Speaker 1
And I'm looking at this one about people from a Non IT background. So the question is, is this particular course suitable for someone from a Non IT background, particularly in terms of the prerequisite and its relevance for individuals looking to transition to cyber security with no prior experience in the field? So when I look at the entry requirments I noticed that, we're asking for, the Australian bachelor's degree or five years work experience.
00:43:34:00 - 00:43:52:07
Speaker 1
You know, related industries are very clearly open to people who don't have IT as their background. But maybe Iqbal you could talk more specifically around, how students from other backgrounds can come into the program and then actually make that kind of pivot into a whole new career area.
00:43:52:09 - 00:44:21:19
Speaker 2
I'm starting when we looked at designing this program and broadly, most human, we anticipated that that students were going to be entered to this program. They're not going to be coming from the say Bachelor of IT , Bachelor of Computer science they are coming from bachelor of business, Bachelor of Arts, so they can make that transition thats the reason the core subjects, which are there that is to help the student to sort of come to the lab, what they can do with the advanced courses.
00:44:21:21 - 00:44:47:02
Speaker 2
So introduction to cyber security. There's no prerequisites. Anybody can do it. We expect even some student school leavers. You know, would take it from that level in fact. So not considering that they would have any cybersecurity knowledge before and then the programing fundamentals as well. That again it teaches them about the programing concepts as well that they use a Python.
00:44:47:04 - 00:45:11:06
Speaker 2
So I absolutely no problem with that one. If you are coming from different backgrounds, let's say you have a Bachelor of Arts, you have experience of industry and working in the art industry, working in the business area or some other area, you should be able to enter into the program and successfully complete that. Of course, there's a commitment is needed to learn, you know, because there's always a shift.
00:45:11:08 - 00:45:19:14
Speaker 2
Being a technical side of, you know, aspect of learning that, it's all possible steps can actually shorten.
00:45:19:16 - 00:45:44:02
Speaker 3
Yeah. Just just to add to that as well, around the career path, I see a lot of people that I work with that don't don't come from a technical background, but that work in cybersecurity, especially around things like governance or governance, compliance and the like, that is more of, a management level role. You don't need the best sort of in depth tech skills a governance person is not going to be doing penetration testing and, and the like.
00:45:44:02 - 00:46:03:11
Speaker 3
Right? They're not going to be doing security analytics and and that now it's harder to get in as an early career into that path, into the governance roles because they consider it more senior. But if that is the path that you want to go down, you might not necessarily want to invest too much into the in depth technical.
00:46:03:13 - 00:46:21:23
Speaker 3
You want to set a path where you do not know enough yet through the entry level paths, and then you set your career objectives to to go down that sort of, you know, with the more management and more documentation and everything like that around it, so it's definitely a path i see a lot of people taking.
00:46:22:00 - 00:46:40:02
Speaker 1
And I think one of the key changes that we made to this course last year when we, revamped it was actually to introduce more choice. And I think what you're talking about, both Warwick and Iqbal is actually about people being able to kind of tailor the program to where they wanting to head as much as what their background is.
00:46:40:04 - 00:47:11:15
Speaker 1
I think we may have about come what's the entry level path? I'm hoping that we've covered that now. And I'm thinking that we're potentially pretty close to time, so I might wrap up there. Thank you, everyone, for joining us. Thank you particularly to Warwick, Iqbal and Marc but everyone who's joined us today, we will be sharing a recording of this, webinar, so that you'll be able to look back over information if needed.
00:47:11:17 - 00:47:29:09
Speaker 1
And in that will include some links as well to some key pages on our website. So I guess I'll really just wrap up here and thank you all very much. And wish you all the very best with your future studies and careers. Thank you all.
