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Mindef launches NSF scheme, specialist award for cyber defence

SINGAPORE — Singaporeans and permanent residents who are enlisting for National Service in the second half of this year may now apply for the new Cyber NSF Scheme, which allows full-time national servicemen (NSFs) to play a role in defending cyber space critical to the country’s security.

SINGAPORE — Singaporeans and permanent residents who are enlisting for National Service in the second half of this year may now apply for the new Cyber NSF Scheme, which allows full-time national servicemen (NSFs) to play a role in defending cyber space critical to the country’s security.

The scheme will be launched via a pilot trial for those enlisting in the second half of the year. It will train NSFs as cyber operators, where they are tasked to conduct threat monitoring and assessment. 

Selected NSFs with higher aptitude and skills in cyber security will also be offered the Cyber Specialist Award, a short-term contract of three or four years that will also include their full-time National Service stint. The specialists will be able to take professional courses at the Singapore Institute of Technology while they are employed in their operational roles.

NSFs who are already in cyber vocations now will have to pass the selection tests and be assessed on a case-by-case basis before they are offered the Cyber Specialist Award. 

Announcing the scheme and award on the sidelines of the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the Defence Cyber Organisation of the Ministry of Defence (Mindef) and the Singapore Institute of Technology on Monday (Feb 12), Second Minister for Defence Ong Ye Kung said that the new scheme would draw on the pool of NSFs to attract those with these capabilities.

“This is really in recognition that we need all these talents to build up our cyber defence force and vocation,” he said, adding that Mindef is looking to younger people who are interested in and familiar with cyber defence. 

The new scheme and award comes after a new cyber vocation was first announced during Mindef’s Committee of Supply debate after the Budget in March last year. On having the new vocation, Mr Ong said: “Why we did that was in recognition that today, hybrid warfare (and) unconventional threats have become the norm. Every country is preoccupied with this. As a result, we need to build up the capability through the cyber vocation.”

He added that he and Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen have also received several appeal letters from parents and students who said that their sons or the students themselves are keen in cyber defence and asked if they could apply for the vocation.

Under the scheme, the cyber specialists on the short-term contract with Mindef would eventually receive an army regular’s pay and, as they progress in their training and operational roles, they could be promoted up to First Sergeant.

Mindef will take in about 60 cyber operators, and another 50 to 60 cyber specialists for the pilot batch. 

For subsequent batches, the annual intake of cyber operators will remain the same, while cyber specialists will increase to about 80 to 90.

FOUR AREAS OF OPERATIONS

NSFs who are cyber defenders will be deployed in a range of operational roles across four areas: Cyber-security monitoring, threat assessment and response, vulnerability audit (which identifies security flaws in a system) and penetration testing (to evaluate the security of a system through cyber-attacking methods), and lastly, malware analysis and cyber forensics.

NSFs must apply to the scheme to be considered, via Mindef’s website (www.mindef.gov.sg/CyberNSF). They have to go through a selection process that will test their skills and aptitude in areas such as cryptography and security architecture. They will also be put through psychometric tests and practical problem-solving scenarios. 

Those who fare better at these tests will be offered the Cyber Specialist Award, and these specialists will be sent for further studies and training at the Singapore Institute of Technology while they are employed in their operational roles. 

They will be able to receive academic credits in areas such as network security and digital forensics. These credits will be recognised should they enter the relevant cyber-security undergraduate programme at the university after their contract. This means that they would still graduate together with peers who have completed their two-year National Service stint and went on to take the same four-year degree at the same university.

Singapore Institute of Technology’s provost Loh Han Tong said that the university’s Information and Communications Technology (Information Security) degree has seen a growing number of applications since it was launched three years ago. 

It has since increased its enrolment by about 10 per cent to some 85 places for this year’s ongoing admission exercise.

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