Cyber Security SINGAPORE CYBER WEEK
Singapore International Cyber Week 2017 “Building A Secure and Resilient Digital Future Through Partnership”
S
ingapore International Cyber Week (SICW) 2017 (18th – 21st Sept, Suntec Singapore International Convention & Exhibition Centre), organised by the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore (CSA), took its second edition to greater heights that saw participation of over 7,000 international and regional policy makers, thought leaders, industry experts and visitors from close to 50 countries. The theme: “Building A Secure and Resilient Digital Future Through Partnership” echoed Singapore’s focus on strengthening the nation’s digital future through building robust local and international partnerships. Events under the SICW umbrella include the ASEAN Ministerial Conference on Cybersecurity (AMCC), the International Cyber Leaders’ Symposium (ICLS) and ASEAN Cybercrime Prosecutors’ Roundtable Meeting (ACPRM). Over 250 participating companies and sponsors including Palo Alto Networks, Carbon Black Inc, Imperva Inc, NEC and BAE Systems, and country pavilions including France, Holland, Malaysia and United Kingdom, as well as Singapore,
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also showcased Cyber Security innovations in the GovernmentWare (GovWare 2017) exhibition. Aspirations of the next generation of industry professionals were also demonstrated through their cybersecurity research and projects at a dedicated Pavilion for Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs). From the current hundred-of-thousands to the projected couple-of-millions Cyber Security skills shortage cited by advanced countries invited to SICW 2017, capacity building and upskilling are clearly keys to realising the vision of a secure and resilient digital future. At his Opening Speech, Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore and Co-ordinating Minister for National Security Mr Teo Chee Hean spoke on the progress in building Singapore’s capabilities: “we established the Cyber Security Agency (CSA) in 2015, and CSA has just achieved Full Operating Capability, after successfully carrying out its first exercise involving all 11 Critical Information Infrastructure (CII) sectors in Singapore”, and more needs to be done. On this, he highlighted several initiatives in investments in people, capabilities and networks.
One initiative underway is the creation of new cyber defence vocation for National Servicemen (“Cyber Defenders”) to tap on cyber talent pool selected from educational institutions, with the aim to have about 2,600 servicemen on board in about a decade - a “significant build-up” from current numbers. In addition to roles in Security Operations Centre monitoring, Incident Response, and Forensic Investigation, these Cyber Defenders will also support CSA to defend critical information infrastructure (such as the power grid, transportation and telecommunications network). Another is the establishment of the Defence Cyber Organisation (DCO) (by The Ministry of Defence (MINDEF)) to monitor and defend MINDEF and the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF)'s networks 24/7 from cyber threats, through oversight, capacity development, vulnerability assessments and compliance, operational monitoring and incident response; including the Cyber Defence Test and Evaluation Centre, fully operational since 2015 to provide facilities for network security testing, cyber defence tools evaluation, and cyber defence training and exercises. Others announced during SICW