The cybersecurity sector is still faced with talent crunch. The 2022 Cybersecurity Workforce Study by non-profit ISC2 estimates a shortage of 6,071 cybersecurity workers in Singapore.
This is worrying as cyber attacks are becoming more frequent, complex and sophisticated. Case in point: Around 8,500 phishing attempts were reported to the Singapore Cyber Emergency Response Team (SingCERT) in 2022, more than double of that in 2021. Cybersecurity vendors also reported a 13% increase in ransomware incidents worldwide in 2022, according to the Singapore Cyber Landscape 2022 report by the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore (CSA).
One way of bridging the skills gap is to empower more non-cybersecurity professionals to do their part to secure their organisations. This is the goal of CSA’s new SG Cyber Associates programme, which will provide foundational and targeted cybersecurity training for non-cybersecurity professionals to develop cybersecurity skills relevant to their work.
CSA will work together with professional bodies and training partners to introduce the programme to engineers, auditors, lawyers, and IT and software professionals.
For engineers, there is a demand for cybersecurity training as Industry 4.0 has accelerated the digital connections of engineering systems. Regulations, such as the Cybersecurity Codes of Practice, have also driven organisations to invest in cybersecurity resilience.
Meanwhile, cybersecurity training will enable auditors and lawyers to better appreciate and address pertinent issues such as cyber risk and data security. This in turn allows them to help clients improve their management of cyber risks, such as ransomware and scams.
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As for the IT field where security by design and default are encouraged, equipping IT architects, project managers and software developers with cybersecurity skills will enable them to create more secure products and services at the outset.
CSA will partner with training providers to deliver online training, assessment and certification for the foundational training under the programme. It will first do so by extending ISC2’s One Million Certified in Cybersecurity (1MCC) initiative under the SG Cyber Associates programme later this year. The two organisations aim to offer 10,000 training and exam spaces over three years to participants in Singapore who want to obtain an entry-level certification in cybersecurity.
For targeted training, CSA will work with professional bodies to develop customised cybersecurity training to meet the specific needs of their members. The professional bodies will then engage training partners to design and deliver the customised training courses for its members with support from CSA.
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As a start, CSA will partner with the Institution of Engineers Singapore (IES) and a local training provider early next year to develop and organise courses on specific technology domains such as Internet of Things security for IES members.
Cybersecurity awareness training for enterprises
CSA has also onboarded NTUC LearningHub (NTUC LHUB) in the SG Cyber Safe Partnership Programme. Under the partnership, NTUC LHUB will develop and provide relevant cybersecurity training programmes to complement the SG Cyber Safe initiatives and help raise cybersecurity awareness and adoption.
One such programme is the one-day-long Cyber Awareness for Employees Workshop, featuring specially designed and curated activities that are delivered in person by trainers who are experienced professionals in ethical security or “White Hat” hacking.
Organised into seven modules, the workshop will highlight the importance of cyber incident management, the role of social engineering in cyberattacks, proper handling of sensitive information, and effective protection of their devices against cyber attacks.
According to NTUC LHUB, the key highlight of the workshop is the immersive learning experience. Learners will be exposed to common cyber attacks and data breaches that they may encounter unknowingly in their course of work or daily lives. These are achieved through simulated cyber attacks in a controlled environment using devices specifically configured to mimic genuine cyber incidents, followed by hands-on demonstrations and explanations of the modus operandi of such cyber attacks.
As such, learners will gain a better understanding and learn how to defend themselves from common cybersecurity attack vectors such as:
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- QR code attack, which redirects users to malware-laced websites and allows a malicious actor to take control of their mobile devices and data
- Man-in-the-middle attack, where a malicious actor positions himself in a conversation between the user and the application
- Mobile malware attack, where a user downloads a malicious application that enables a malicious actor to control the mobile device and all its transactions
- Artificial-intelligence (AI) attack, where a malicious actor uses deepfake created via generative artificial intelligence to impersonate and issue instructions to transfer money and data.
The workshop incorporates content from CSA’s Cybersecurity Toolkit for Employees. The content of the workshop can be further contextualised to suit the unique needs of enterprises, including large corporations and small and medium enterprises (SMEs), allowing employees to immediately apply relevant knowledge at their workplace.
“By taking on a tech-lite approach, we designed the Cyber Awareness for Employees Workshop to be informative by ensuring that learners – even beginners with minimal technology skills – will be able to acquire the necessary knowledge and awareness in a variety of common cybersecurity attacks. Large organisations are already grappling with challenges arising from cybersecurity risks, let alone SMEs. Therefore, it is important for enterprises to ensure that every employee has the right mindset and fundamental skills in cybersecurity to help safeguard not just their organisation but also their personal data or property,” says Anthony Chew, chief core skills officer of NTUC LHUB.
Developing cybersecurity professionals
Singapore has also launched the SG Cyber Leadership and Alumni Programme, which caters to participants at different stages of their cybersecurity journey.
To support this new programme, Singapore’s earlier funding commitment of $30 million for cyber capacity building will be extended by another three years to 2026, announced Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat at the Singapore International Cyber Week 2023.
Open to all countries, the SG Cyber Leadership and Alumni Programme comprises training courses at various levels, as follows:
- The Foundation course is an introductory course focused on basic cyber diplomacy concepts, international law, and norms in cyberspace, as well as the operational and technical considerations of international cyber policy. It will also provide participants with an understanding of the cyber threat landscape and mitigation strategies.
- The Executive course aims to equip officials involved in cyber discussions at the multilateral level, such as at the United Nations Open-Ended Working Group on the security of and in the use of information and communications technologies, with the foundational operational and technical cyber policy knowledge necessary for their work.
- The Advanced course is targeted at senior officials who have attended the Foundation course and offers a deeper understanding and analysis of key cyber issues across the policy, legal, technical, and operational areas.
Participants will also have hands-on, self-driven training featuring real-world case studies and keystone projects to bridge the gap between theoretical and practical implementation of cyber strategies. The interactive project-based approach explores cross-cutting issues, such as how operational processes protecting critical information infrastructure can influence regional incident response and cybersecurity policies, and how multilateral knowledge sharing of best practices can shape national cybersecurity technical norms and implementations. - The Cyber Leaders’ Alumni Fellowship, which caters to senior officials who had previously participated in Singapore’s capacity-building initiatives under the ASEAN-Singapore Cybersecurity Centre of Excellence.
The Fellowship will be held at the sidelines of the SICW and will bring together former course participants to participate in a series of closed-door meetings with experts and thought leaders on the latest trends and international discourse on cybersecurity. Participants will also get to exchange insights and best practices on issues of mutual interest, such as workforce and skills development, and legal frameworks on responsible cyber behaviour.
Since its launch in 2019, ASCCE has worked with more than 40 partners from international organisations, industry players, academia, and ASEAN Dialogue Partners, to organise over 50 programmes involving about 1,600 senior officials from the ASEAN region and beyond.
In 2021, Singapore launched the United Nations-Singapore Cyber Fellowship, a programme that brings together high-level national cybersecurity officials from UN member states to acquire interdisciplinary expertise in overseeing cyber and digital security policymaking, strategies, and operations effectively.
