The Cyber Security Agency of Singapore (CSA) is organising the Cybersecurity Challenge Singapore, a series of challenges and competitions designed to inspire and spur cyber enthusiasts to join the cybersecurity profession.
A virtual three-dimensional (3D) skyscraper, named CyPhinx acts as a gateway to different games, ciphers and competitions catering to players in various age groups and different competency levels. It was launched by the Cyber Security Challenge UK, a UK Government-backed organisation in 2015.
Players can create avatars, access cybersecurity game challenges and interact with other cyber enthusiasts, while demonstrating their skills to fellow players and potential employers in CyPhinx.
The challenges are designed by sponsors who are leaders in the cybersecurity industry and they reflect real life issues that security professionals on the front line of cybersecurity face every day.
In an initiative arising from the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Cyber Security Cooperation signed between CSA and the Cabinet Office of the United Kingdom, CSA has rolled out a Singapore floor on CyPhinx. Before participants can enter the Challenge, they must test their skills in games available on the Singapore Floor.
Scores will be captured as players complete the game challenges in cybersecurity areas of forensic analysis, vulnerability assessment, incident analysis, malware investigation, attack strategies, and coding. Examples of games on the Singapore floor include Andromeda Challenge, where players have to extract artifacts (e.g images, zip files etc), analyse the network traffic and use password cracking tools to extract the passwords to answer a quiz and Operation Syringe, where players are required to refer to the log files provided and identify the SQL injection request, data that was extracted and the time of the attack.
The qualifying period for the Challenge commenced on 22 March 2017 and will end on 14 June 2017. The top 30 players will be invited to compete in a Face-to-Face competition co-organised by CSA and BAE Systems on 22 July 2017, where six winners will be selected. The winners will receive training courses prizes from industry players and an all-expenses paid trip to the United Kingdom (UK) to pit their skills against UK players in the Masterclass Final from 12 to 14 November this year.
Mr David Koh, Chief Executive, CSA said about the challenge, “Cybersecurity is a fast-growing industry. However, it is a relatively new area and many cybersecurity enthusiasts may not be aware of what the job entails or the exciting opportunities available. With the introduction of the Challenge, we want to unearth budding cybersecurity talents and give them a platform to challenge themselves and at the same time, showcase their skills to potential employers. We are pleased to partner like-minded industry leaders to offer training and internship opportunities to help them develop their cybersecurity competency.”
The Challenge is open only to Singaporeans or Permanent Residents who are currently not in the cybersecurity field.
The sponsors of the Cybersecurity Challenge Singapore include Palo Alto Networks, PwC Singapore, (ISC)², e2i (Employment and Employability Institute), THINKSECURE PTE LTD, and StarHub.
Those who are interested can register and download CyPhinx at https://cybersecuritychallenge.org.uk/competitions/play-demand-cyphinx
Read the press release here.