‘We Did Our Best to Stop the Hackers’

Digital Assistants provided digital support to an international online scientific conference held by the HSE Faculty of Law. The conference, titled ‘International Justice: Look into the Future’, took place despite a fire alarm and Zoom bombing. Read the article to find out more.

The research conference ‘International justice: Look into the future’ was the second online event Digital Assistants supported as part of their cooperation with the HSE Faculty of Law. In 2020, students helped to hold an international online conference called ‘The 3R Initiative: Re-thinking, Re-packaging and Rescuing World Trade Law’.

This year’s online event took place under extreme conditions: the videoconference fell victim to a massive hacker attack. On top of that, a fire alarm went off in the building where the HSE moderator and people supporting the online broadcast were staying, which prompted an emergency evacuation of all employees, teachers, and students.

‘The conference was jeopardized, but fortunately it wasn’t cancelled thanks to the prompt technical support provided by our highly professional Smart Assistants, who continued working and managed to cope up with the emergency. These students helped us out, and we would like to thank them on behalf of the Faculty of Law for their invaluable support,’ says Marina Murashko, Deputy Head of the Administrative Support Centre at the HSE Faculty of Law.

As a member of the HSE Digital Assistants’ team, Anna Shagaeva, a MIEM third-year student, has supported three online events. Accidents do happen, she says. It was much easier to cope with the stressful situation thanks to the skills she’d developed while taking part in the Digital Assistants project; these include professional communication skills, effective collaboration, and quick decision-making.

‘The ill-wishers connected to us right after our colleagues had to leave the university building when the fire alarm went off. When I found myself online alone with the interpreters and the guests, we had multiple connections from people who uploaded inappropriate content to the chat and used foul language. The organizers and I did our best to stop the hackers. Finally, the speakers were able to continue,’ says Anna.

Rodion Fedotov, a digital assistant and a MIEM second-year student, says that online conferences are an excellent opportunity to diversify one’s involvement in the project since the prompt response skills required of assistants will be helpful in any sphere of life.

‘I’m glad that we were able to moderate sessions smoothly for two days despite the circumstances beyond our control. It isn’t easy to stay focused for eight hours straight during the conference, but we had such experience before, for instance when we supported the intensive course ‘Archipelago 2121’. I do recommend that students participate in events like that, since it’s both exciting and helpful.’

Olesya Klychikhina

Head of the Unit for Strategic Digital Development and Partnerships, Office for Digital Transformation

Such extraordinary situations offer a good opportunity to practice the basic and advanced skills, both hard and soft, that students can gain while working as HSE Digital Assistants. Routine work boosts skills that can come in handy in emergencies. We will be using this story as a case study to teach a new group of digital assistants.

To consult a Digital Assistant on HSE University’s digital services, submit an application via your corporate account to the HSE Hotline. You can also visit the Digital Assistant project website to learn more or apply for a position as a Digital Assistant.

October 15, 2021