Trend Micro’s “What’s Your Story?” – A Pioneer in Educating Malaysians about Internet Safety and Security Issues

Kuala Lumpur, 23 November 2011 – Trend Micro Incorporated (TYO: 4704;TSE: 4704), a global cloud security leader announced the winners of the “What’s Your Story?” video competition here today. The video competition is targeted to instil awareness amongst college students around Malaysia about online safety and had shortlisted 53 videos submitted to Trend Micro throughout the competition period of two months.

“What’s Your Story?” competition challenged college students to create a video of two minutes or less about how best to stay safe when engaging in online activities, named the talented Keng Cheng Yoong, 24, a mechanical engineering student from UNITEN as the Grand Prize Winner when his video garnered the most number of “likes” on Trend Micro’s Facebook page. He walked away with RM5, 000 cash prize.Jason Goh, a 28-year-old Web Designer from Kuala Lumpur was crowned as the first runner up winner and he was awarded with RM1,000 cash prize while Geh Chee Minh, 27, a professional photographer from Petaling Jaya walked away with RM500 cash prize as the second runner up winner.

The videos are judged based on creativity, relevancy and content that best showcase messages in multimedia format of the three topics namely Being a Good Online Citizen, Using Mobile Phones Wisely and Maintaining Your Privacy Online. Cyber Security Malaysia (CSM) and International Multilateral Partnership Against Cyber Threat (IMPACT) partnered Trend Micro Malaysia as the official judging panel for this competition.

“Video competition such as the “What’s Your Story?” is very important in building awareness about Internet safety amongst the younger generations. The competition works as a unique tool to educate them in an interactive manner rather than the conventional text book methods. Besides that, it is also a key element in the Internet Safety for Kids and Families (ISKF) programme that emphasize on education and instilling awareness about online safety amongst kids and families,” said Ms. Jean Lim, Director, Marketing and Consumer Business, Malaysia and Indonesia, Trend Micro Inc.

Lt Col (R) Prof Dato’ Husin Jazri, Chief Executive Officer of CyberSecurity Malaysia pointed out that, “Cybercriminal activities are on the rise in Malaysia and the increasing rate is indeed disturbing. Therefore, it is crucial for everybody to collaborate, combat and mitigate the issue. On that note, CyberSecurity Malaysia welcomes any efforts and initiatives taken by the industry players, for example Trend Micro, who has introduced the “What’s Your Story?” video competition to provide a platform for students to learn and understand the importance of Internet safety and cyber security issues.”

“The act of cyber crime starts at the very basic level where users are unaware of the threats they face online. Clicking on malicious links and sharing of sensitive information on the Internet can put a user at risk. At this point, the immense availability of the Internet via mobile further elevates the risk of being a victim of cyber crime. IMPACT’s partner, Trend Micro, has embarked on this noble effort to organise this competition in creating more awareness for our younger generations for a safer cyberspace experience,” said Philip Victor, Director, Centre for Policy and International Cooperation, International Multilateral Partnership Against Cyber Threats (IMPACT).

In conjunction with this competition, Trend Micro also hosted a series of roadshows in selected universities and colleges in the Klang Valley to reach out to the students. A Trend Micro team was on site to provide information about the competition and videos can be uploaded from the Trend Micro booths at the roadshows.

This video competition was introduced in August 2011 and concluded its competition series in October 2011. The “What’s Your Story?” video competition is a Trend Micro CSR initiative under the company’s Internet Safety for Kids & Families programme which is focused on educating kids, parents, teachers, and schools around the world to make the internet a safer place for users.