Singapore funds 80 OT-focussed cyber security scholarships

Singapore has launched a cyber security graduate programme focussed on training up Operational Technology specialists to protect its critical infrastructure.

The government backed Cyber Agency of Singapore (CSA) has joined forces with iTrust, a cyber security research centre specialising in the security of critical infrastructure, to fund 80 scholarships over a three-year period.

Graduates of the programme will receive a Master of Science in Security by Design, which will be awarded by Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD), where the course is based.

In a statement CSA said that with increased connectivity between IT and OT systems and the emergence of more sophisticated cyber threats, there was a need to “strengthen the OT cybersecurity workforce and support continued growth of the sector.”

The programme is open to science, technology, engineering and maths graduates who are qualified Singapore citizens or who hold permanent residency.

The CSA claims that the course is designed to equip students with a thorough understanding of cybersecurity fundamentals and the skillsets to apply security by design principles across a variety of domains.

The government body adds that students will have access to the latest fundamental and applied research findings as well as to some of “the world’s best OT testbeds that simulate critical infrastructure, which are all co-located in SUTD”.

The scholarship programme is geared towards work in a variety of tech domains in the critical infrastructure sectors including healthcare, utilities and manufacturing.

The CSA OT scholarship scheme follows the launch of the nation-state’s  OT Cybersecurity Competency Framework last year that details OT security roles with the corresponding technical skills and core competencies.

A recent study by Vedere Labs, the research arm of security vendor Forescout, discovered 56 vulnerabilities in 20 popular OT product lines from providers including Motorola, Siemens and Honeywell, many of which would allow remote code execution.

More than a quarter of the product lines identified as insecure were designed for use in manufacturing, making it the most exposed industry. This was followed by healthcare (16%), retail (14%) and government (12%).