26 September 2019

Cyber N’US: “Act and Protect – Towards a Trusted Cyber Environment”

By Jasper Seto

At first glance, Ms. Paula Januszkiewicz’s sleek hairstyle, cool fashion sense, and youthful image combined with her compelling stage presence might lead you to believe that she is a famous music pop star or media personality. Few would believe that in reality, she is actually a world renowned cyber security expert who travels around the world over 250 days of the year to speak about this subject that she is supremely knowledgeable and passionate about.

With Paula in the spotlight, the inaugural Cyber N’US conference kicked off on September 23 rd , 2019 in partnership with NUS Information Technology and ICE71 at the Shaw Foundation Alumni House on the campus of the National University of Singapore.  As NUS’ flagship cyber security event, the theme of this first edition of Cyber N’US was “Act and Protect – Towards a Trusted Cyber Environment”, and it showcased an exciting programme of thought leaders, key industry players and innovative solutions to a full audience.

Think and Act Like a Hacker

Known as an “ethical hacker” or someone who specialises in legal penetration testing and other testing methodologies of an organisation’s systems to ensure their security, Ms. Januszkiewicz delivered the keynote address “Think and Act Like a Hacker to Protect Your Company’s Assets”, detailing gripping espionage-like experiences to expose common cyber vulnerabilities and just how easily they can be exploited to compromise confidential data. After hearing Paula’s speech, captivated audience members will surely never leave their computers unlocked and unattended again (especially around her!). Paula is also the Founder and CEO of cyber security consultancy CQURE, and Regional Director at Microsoft (notably she has the honour of having access to the Microsoft Windows source code), and over the next 4 days led informative workshops demonstrating and sharing insights into current hacking tools and techniques.

Mr. Tommy Hor, Chief Information Technology Officer at NUS, described Paula as “a renowned expert in cybersecurity, with profound knowledge in Microsoft security. She believes in learning by doing and uses very few slides in her classes. She leverages a wealth of tools developed in-house to demonstrate the risks, vulnerabilities, exploits and defense which are supported by many real-life cases, and that is most effective in the workshop.”

Bug Bounty Challenge

Another major highlight was the “Bug Bounty Challenge 2019 Awards”, presented by Mr. John Wilton, Deputy President of Administration and Finance at NUS.  This ceremony recognised the best performers from the NUS event which actively incentivised over 200 student participants to build and enhance practical hacking skills and find vulnerabilities for the greater good. During the three week challenge held in August, students were first enlisted in the Hacker101 web security training program, courtesy of the HackerOne organization. Ultimately, these aspiring ethical hackers uncovered 13 exposures in NUS’ IT infrastructure resulting in a total award or “bounty” pay-out of over US$4,500, in addition to earning extra academic credits for selected modules after completing training (Business Wire, 2019) .

Other memorable moments from the event include:

• “Unity in Diversity in Cyber Security”, an engaging panel discussion moderated by Mr.
  Tommy Hor, Chief Information Technology Officer at NUS.
• “Cyber Security Challenges Faced by Critical Information Infrastructure in Singapore”, an
  impactful speech by Mr. Lim Thian Chin, Director at the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore.
• “SingHealth Data Breach”, a deeper dive into the biggest cyberattack news story in
  Singapore in recent times and lessons learned, by Mr. Vivek Chudgar, Senior Director at
  FireEye – Mandiant Consulting.
• “Conducting Effective Phishing Simulation Drills”, an overview of robust measures to combat
  persistent phishing threats today, by Mr. Ang Leong Boon, Head of IT Security at NUS.
• “Journey into Cybersecurity”, personal experiences and a comprehensive perspective of the
  cyber security landscape today, by Dr. Omaru Maruatona, CEO at Aiculus.

“I am heartened to see the entire audience very much engaged from the beginning till the very last agenda of the day,” Tommy remarked on the day’s proceedings. “They showed great enthusiasm for the talks, and had overwhelming queries for our keynote and guest speakers. They also seized every single opportunity during breaks to mingle with colleagues and friends, and make new connections.”

At the conclusion of Cyber N’US 2019, a wealth of information and knowledge was shared and hopefully served as inspiration for the cyber community to take greater action and protection towards a more trusted cyber environment at NUS, within Singapore, and beyond.

Asked what key lesson the NUS community should take away from the event, Tommy responded, “Cybersecurity is everyone’s responsibility, and everyone in their professional, family and social space can contribute to a safe and secure digital environment.”