SG Cyber Talent Development Fund to launch this month: MCI Minister Josephine Teo

THE Cyber Security Agency of Singapore (CSA) will be launching the SG Cyber Talent Development Fund later this month to grow the cybertalent pipeline, announced Minister for Communications and Information Josephine Teo.

The fund, she stated, will support communities and organisations in coming up with initiatives that will help Singapore's cybersecurity ecosystem to grow.

She announced the launch of the cybertalent development fund at the 4th Cybersecurity Awards Ceremony on Friday (Jan 14).

Teo added: "If you have ideas for expanding or enriching the cybersecurity community, for developing and recognising skills, or for creating more training and job placements, we want to hear from you."

Tremendous amount of resources and commitment by all stakeholders across the cybersecurity ecosystem is required in beefing up cybersecurity, Teo said as she cited the vulnerability issue found in the Apache Java logging library Log4j last December.

Log4j is an open-source Java package used to support activity-logging in many Java-based applications. As it is widely used by developers, this vulnerability can have very serious consequences. Exploitation of this vulnerability will allow a hacker to gain full control of the affected servers.

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Log4j's presence in countless applications and products and even supply chains prompted IT teams in Singapore and globally to study developments, share information, implement patches and respond to Log4j-related incidents since December.

For example, CSA raised the alert and worked with Critical Information Infrastructure (CII) sectors and organisations to patch their systems, and take remediation and mitigation measures immediately.

Enhancing the people, processes and technologies behind the cybersecurity system is important. "This is so that when a cyberattack hits, the entire ecosystem can react as a well-oiled machine. And can bounce back quickly," the minister added.

She said the CSA will hold the fourth edition of Exercise Cyber Star to test the response of all 11 CII sector leads and their CII owners to complex attack scenarios.

The award, organised by the Association of Information Security Professionals, has been held annually since 2018. It honours outstanding contributions by individuals and organisations to the cybersecurity ecosystem.