The transformation of the internet over three decades, the perspectives for the use of technologies in higher education and the 25 years of the Security Incident Response Center (CAIS) were some of the topics that marked the first day of the RNP Forum 2022. 

In the opening lecture, the general director, Nelson Simões, spoke of RNP's pioneering role in the development of the internet in Brazil, recalling the challenges for the implementation of the first backbone, in 1992. “It is a characteristic of RNP to take advantage of contingencies and advance the vision of the future. Something that was valuable for education and research has become visible and valuable for society”, said Nelson Simões.

With an eye on the future, Simões shared the guidelines for the 2021-2030 decade, including support for the digital transformation process in public administration, education and research. “These last 30 years demonstrate a way of working, a value in work. We have to maintain this curiosity and reinforce these values that we have managed to build in recent years, ”he highlighted.

Watch the full lecture by Nelson Simões here. 

Technology-mediated higher education

Moderated by the director of People, Administration and Finance at RNP, José Luiz Ribeiro Filho, the deans Joana Angélica Guimarães da Luz, from the Federal University of Southern Bahia (UFSB), Antonio José de Almeida Meirelles, from the State University of Campinas (Unicamp), and Sônia Regina de Souza Fernandes, from the Instituto Federal Catarinense (IFC), analyzed the digital transformation within the pedagogical perspective of universities. They dealt with the phenomenon of the “digital nomad” student, which gained strength with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Despite the challenges for expanding the use of technological equipment, Dean Joana Angélica highlighted positive points, such as overcoming geographic barriers. “The use of technologies helps people who are socioeconomically vulnerable, so that they have the opportunity to access universities and courses at different levels in our institutions”, said the dean of UFSB.

In the view of Sônia Regina, from the IFC, the health crisis anticipated a digital culture that, in the context of the federal education network, was still moving slowly. “Considering that around 70% of students have a per capita income of up to one and a half minimum wages, this mobilized us to seek certain conditions, together with the MEC, so that students could have equipment or a good network for classes”, added the dean of the IFC.

Antonio José considered that it is necessary to reflect on how to combine presence and technology. “In Unicamp's culture, face-to-face meetings are very important. Training students outside the classroom, for example, is essential, and technologies still cannot mimic this interaction. We have been very cautious with both remote work and teaching”, highlighted the dean.

The conversation between the deans is available here.

A quarter century of the CAIS

The last panel of the day outlined an overview of the performance of RNP's Security Incident Response Center (CAIS) over its 25 years. Adaílton Silva, who worked on the creation of the service center in 1997; Liliana Solha, former manager of CAIS and current manager of Special Projects in Information Security at RNP; Emílio Nakamura, deputy director of cybersecurity at RNP; and Rildo Souza, Information Security analyst at CAIS.

Adaílton Silva said that the foundation of CAIS was motivated by a need for RNP to accompany the development of other world academic networks. Furthermore, with the onset of the commercial internet in 1995, security incidents began to emerge. “In mid-1996, Carlos Campana and I, with advice from Gorgonio Araújo and Danton Nunes, started the project”, he reported.

Liliana Solha recalled the first security incidents in which CAIS acted, such as an attack suffered by the NASA website. She compared the modus operandi of the time to that of a fire department. “In the first week, we had a scare with an incident of this magnitude. You didn't have all the connections to reach the people involved in the security incident”, she said. Shortly thereafter, CAIS would invest in education and training. 

Emílio Nakamura spoke about the current perspective of cybersecurity. “We live in a context in which the technological issue is increasingly in synergy with the digital and also human side. It is the arrival of new technologies that brings complexity to the environment”, concluded the Deputy Director of Cybersecurity at RNP.

Professionals who have been on the CAIS team throughout this history were invited to make special appearances on the panel. Eduardo Grizendi, Emilio Lau, Frederico Costa, Ivo Peixinho and Ítalo Valcy brought some of their experience in one of the first CSIRTs (Computer Security Incident Response Teams) in Brazil.

Check out the entirety of the commemorative panel for the 25 years of CAIS here.