Digital data security has become an urgent issue in the era of technological advancements. Committed to raising this issue to the public light, Prof. Dr. Aris Marjuni, S.Si., M.Kom., earned a professor title in Information Hiding and Image Watermarking. Through this field, Prof. Aris from Universitas Dian Nuswantoro (Udinus) contributes to educating the importance of keeping information private and integrated.

Prof. Aris, who is a faculty member of the Graduate Computer Science Department at Udinus, began his academic journey in 1994 as a lecturer. For almost three decades, his venture as an academician has been filled with trials and dedications, as well as his motivations in conducting research for the education sector.

“In 1996, I was trusted as an assistant professor. Years following in 2003, I held the title of associate professor. Decades later in 2021, I successfully collected 700 credits as an associate professor. Finally, in 2024, I was granted the highest functional title of professor,” Prof. Aris uttered. 

The Importance of Information Hiding in the Digital Era

Prof. Aris currently focuses on information-hiding techniques, particularly in the form of digital content. This field can be implemented by an individual or an institution to increase their data security. In general, information hiding aims to hide sensitive, important, and secret information, so it cannot be accessed by other malicious parties. 

“This hiding process can come in various forms, including putting the password at the back of a cat photo to avoid suspicion. Meanwhile, image watermarking is often connected to authentication, like a watermark on printed money to differentiate the fake and real one. Digital content authentication can be conducted secretly so it would not tamper with the visual of the digital content itself,” he highlighted. 

Speaking of its relevance in the era of technological advancements, Prof. Aris revealed that the intensity of digital content traffic in this day and age raised a sense of urgency in implementing information hiding to prevent harmful things. 

“An example of these harmful things is data stealing through malware using fake apps veiled by other apps on digital communication platforms. This information-hiding technique is important not only for technological experts but also for common folks so they can protect their privacy. That being said, we must also beware before we access any form of apps or send certain data to other parties, as it is important to ensure that our data remains private and secured,” Prof. Aris. 

Prof. Aris also stated that technological challenges would never stop. Every aspect of technology will always see a development at some point, allowing new problems to arise. 

“Therefore, the academic sector plays a role in developing innovations to prevent various cybercrimes. Hopefully, the young generation can be pioneers in raising public awareness concerning this issue, not only to protect privacy but also to create a safer digital ecosystem,” he concluded. (Humas Udinus/Haris. Foto: Humas Udinus)