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  5. Speech - Address by Guest-of-Honour: Dr Janil Puthucheary at the Launch of ITE College East Cyber Security Lab on 30 March 2022
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Speech - Address by Guest-of-Honour: Dr Janil Puthucheary at the Launch of ITE College East Cyber Security Lab on 30 March 2022

30 March 2022

First, I would like to thank ITE College East for the invitation to join you this afternoon to launch ITE College East’s very own Cyber Security Lab.

Introduction

  1. First, I would like to thank ITE College East for the invitation to join you this afternoon to launch ITE College East’s very own Cyber Security Lab. 

  2. I am excited about the Lab, not just for the students who will use this Lab, but also because of what it means for the development of Singapore’s cybersecurity ecosystem and talent pipeline.

Security Operations Centre (SOC) – the central command post of an organisation’s security

  1. This new Lab is designed and modelled after a Next Generation Security Operations Centre (SOC) and will be an integral part of Higher NITEC Cyber and Network Security and Work Study Diploma in Cyber Security and Forensics programmes. 

  2. SOCs are an integral part in many organisations. In the past this would have been buried in a basement somewhere. Increasingly, CEOs and the management team will be asking questions on who will be providing SOC services and the skills and talents of these people. Increasingly, this will become a leadership function for management and organisations to be aware of. It affects the delivery of the products, services, platform and outcomes of the organisation’s mission. It serves as the brain of the security teams; helping to collect information, identify suspicious patterns and network anomalies in the traffic and take action to stop them on a real-time basis. As more of our economy digitalises and we lead more of our lives online, our attack surface will inevitably widen and there will be more weak points or vulnerabilities for cyber threat actors to exploit. On top of this, cyber threat actors are constantly evolving in their tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs), complicating the life and death game between defenders and attackers. 

  3. This Lab will give students a chance to develop and exercise their skills to identify threats and vulnerabilities in test systems, and get an early taste of the challenges out there and obtain industry-relevant training and experiences. 

Nurturing the cybersecurity talent is a strategic priority

  1. I am heartened by the investment that ITE College East is making to nurture our cybersecurity talent of tomorrow. 

  2. The importance of this line of work should not be underestimated. Trust and cybersecurity are the foundation for our digital ambitions. In the past year, you would have heard of several major cyber incidents such as the Colonial Pipeline attack in May 2021 that led to fuel shortages; and how the Kaseya VSA breach in July 2021 forced Swedish supermarket chain Coop to temporarily close more than 800 outlets. You know of the geopolitical situation out there, a fair amount of that fight is likely to be happening online as well. I suspect in the months to come, we will learn more and more about incidents that are a result of cyber-attacks. 

  3. In a world where the risks of real-world damage as a result of cyberattacks are increasing, because so many more of our systems are controlled from online spaces, we need to build a pipeline of defenders to safeguard our digital domain. This Lab is a very important step in this direction. 

Public-private partnership is a win-win proposition

  1. Finally, this Lab would not have been possible without the support of the industry partners, Lumen Technologies, ReaQta, SecureAge and TOFFS Technologies. I am honoured to witness the signing of the partnership agreements between ITE and these four technologies companies later. Under these agreements, students and staff can look forward to internship placements as well as access to industry-leading cybersecurity training platform and software. 

  2. These opportunities prepared our students for the realities and dynamism of the industry. This is not only good for our students’ employment prospects, but also for the employers and the growth of the industry that they can find employees who are better trained. 

  3. Private-public partnerships in the education of our students are therefore immensely important. So, I thank you for taking an interest in our future generation, and for investing in the future of Singapore’s cybersecurity industry. 

Closing

  1. Let me congratulate all of you once again of this significant milestone. I hope that this is but the beginning of even more collaborations and meaningful experiences for our students. 

  2. Thank you.

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