Kyushu University has decided to make all new students take a compulsory course on cybersecurity starting in fiscal 2016, making it the first major university in Japan to do so. With the proliferation of laptop computers, smartphones and other mobile devices and an increase in cyber attacks directed at government agencies and companies, officials at the university determined that “it is an urgent issue to provide students with the fundamental knowledge they need to be responsible users of their own internet connections and devices and to avoid becoming victims or perpetrators [of cyber attacks].” The new subject will be taught primarily by faculty from the university’s Cyber Security Center, which was opened in December 2014. A professor from Fukuoka-based Cyber University, an all-online private university, said Kyushu University’s move is “ground-breaking” and expressed the hope that more universities follow suit. Source: Nishinippon Shimbun 1/4
Photo: Provided by the City of Fukuoka. Photo: Fumio Hashimoto
