Initiative aims to plug the industry’s talent gap, spur female participation in cybersecurity, and transform the role women play in Singapore’s defence
SINGAPORE – Media OutReach – 27 November
2019 – The Association of Information Security Professionals
(AiSP) today launched a Singapore-first mentorship programme that will groom
female cybersecurity professionals in the republic. This move will boost the
number and skillsets of female cybersecurity talent, address the shortage of
cybersecurity professionals needed to tackle escalating online threats, and enable
women to play a bigger role in the nation’s defence.
As
the country continues to roll out Smart Nation initiatives and build up its
digital economy, the strengthening of cybersecurity capabilities and fostering of
a resilient and trusted cyber environment will be an immediate priority.
However, according to the (ISC)2 Cybersecurity Workforce Study, there is a shortage of 4 million cybersecurity professionals globally.
AiSP’s Ladies in Cyber
Mentorship programme gives mentors the opportunity to share their life lessons
and work experience with interested students from Institutes of Higher Learning
(IHLs) in Singapore over one year, while providing them with guidance to enter
and advance in the cyber workforce.
Besides grooming the next generation of
cybersecurity talents, this programme also boosts the participants’
cybersecurity literacy, allowing them to develop the competencies to play a bigger
part in everyday digital defence.
[L-R] Ms
Sherin Y Lee, Head of AiSP’s Ladies in Cyber charter; Dr Steven Wong, President of AiSP; Senior
Minister of State, Ministry of Communications and Information & Ministry of
Culture, Community and Youth, Ms Sim Ann; and Ms Diana Tan, Executive Vice
President of Ensign InfoSecurity at the launch of AiSP’s Ladies in Cyber
Mentorship programme
“There
is a critical lack of cybersecurity professionals in Singapore to defend our
digital assets and we need to do more to encourage women to join the
profession,” said Dr Steven Wong, President of AiSP. “Through our Ladies in
Cyber charter and newly launched mentorship programme, we want to start a
movement where female role models can inspire more women to take up
cybersecurity as a career option, and excel in their domains of choice.”
“Women
have every potential to play a larger role in Singapore’s defence,” said Sherin
Y Lee, head of AiSP’s Ladies in Cyber charter. “AiSP aims to help them along by
increasing their awareness of cybersecurity issues, drawing them into the
industry, and progressing to leadership positions. Such cybersecurity talent
development programmes will have a big impact on Singapore because we are so digitally
connected as a society − from the smart watches we wear to the utility meters
in our homes.”
Close to 50 mentors —
senior executives in the fields of cybersecurity technology, regulatory
compliance, audit, product management and marketing − have signed up for the
AiSP mentorship programme, and the association aims to double this number by
end-2020.
Students under the
programme will be able to hear about their mentors’ work goals, skills, career
progression strategies, education pathways and approaches to solving work
related problems. They will also be able to visit the mentors’ work environments,
attending meetings/conferences and reviewing documentation/publications
together. They will also get advice on job application, communication skills
and teamwork.
This first-of-its kind “Ladies
in Cyber” mentorship programme adds to the repertoire of programmes that the AiSP’s
Ladies in Cyber charter already has to develop cybersecurity manpower, such as secondary
school career talks, IHL engagement sessions, capture-the-lag cyber defence workshops,
and networking sessions. The wide range of activities is designed to cater to
women in different phases of life, and let them enter the cybersecurity world
at their own level of cyber readiness. For instance, the first step is to help
them be aware — through awareness talks − that cybersecurity is more than just
technology. At the next level, the women can be immersed in the profession with
guidance from seasoned female cybersecurity practitioners, showing them where
to pick up essential capabilities and progress in the field.
AiSP’s
Ladies in Cyber charter was set up in Nov 2018 to develop, advance and include women in the cybersecurity
field, with the aim of attaining greater gender diversity in the industry.
Run entirely by female volunteers from the industry, this charter serves as a
platform to facilitate knowledge transfer, networking and now mentoring — to
attract and develop cybersecurity talent.
About Dr Steven Wong, President, Association of Information Security Professionals (AiSP)
Dr Steven Wong is an Associate
Professor; Programme Director, SIT BEng (Hons) Information and Communication
Technology (Information Security) and (Software Engineering); and Director,
Projects, Office of the Provost, at the Singapore Institute of Technology
(SIT). He spearheaded one of SIT’s flagship degree programmes in Software Engineering
in 2014 and also led the first Information Security degree programme offered by
an autonomous university in Singapore. Steven obtained his undergraduate degree
with 1st class honours in Computer Engineering from Nanyang Technological
University and his PhD in Informatics from the University of Edinburgh.
Steven has over a decade of
academic and industry experience, and was involved in several multi-million
dollar funded research projects. He is currently the Co-Chair for Council of
Registered Ethical Security Testers (CREST) Singapore and the Treasurer of the
IEEE Consumer Electronics (Singapore) Chapter.
About Sherin Y Lee, Programme Lead, “Ladies in Cyber” Mentorship Programme
Sherin Y Lee is the Head
of APAC Marketing and Brand Communications at Ensign InfoSecurity (Ensign), one
of Asia Pacific’s largest pure-play cybersecurity firms.
At Ensign, Sherin leads a team in running
Marketing, Digital brand development and Communications for Ensign in Singapore
and Asia Pacific.
She was also previously the Segment Marketing
Team Lead for ICT Solutions for Singtel. She played a key role in building
strategic relationships with key customers and partners, assisting with the
sales and marketing of Singtel’s ICT Services that comprised Cybersecurity,
Cloud, Data Centre and SaaS offerings.
About AiSP
Started in 2008, the Association of Information
Security Professionals (AiSP) aims to:
- Promote the integrity, status and interests of
Information Security Professionals in Singapore. - Develop, support and enhance technical
competence and management expertise in cybersecurity. - Bolster the development, increase and spread of
information
Please refer to www.aisp.sg or reach out to our
media contacts for more details.
