ITE and Group-IB team up to raise a new generation of cybersecurity specialists for Singapore

First Threat Hunting, Digital Forensics and Cyber Investigations Center to be established in the ITE

Institute of Technical Education (ITE), a principal provider of technical education in Singapore has partnered with Group-IB, a Singapore-based cybersecurity company that specializes in prevention and investigation of cyberattacks. The Memorandum of Understanding has been signed on Friday, November 29, by Ilya Sachkov, Group-IB CEO & founder, and Ms Low Khah Gek, Chief Executive Officer, ITE at CyberCrimeCom’2019 in Singapore. The agreement aims to bring up a new generation of cybersecurity professionals in Singapore by synergizing Group-IB’s hands-on experience in fighting cybercrime globally and ITE’s unique technical education capabilities with one goal – to improve cyber resiliency of the city-state.

The scope of the agreement includes the creation of the first of its kind Threat Hunting, Digital Forensic and Cyber Investigations Centre on the premises of ITE, and the introduction of new courses and training to the curriculum, as well as internship opportunities for ITE students at Group-IB’s offices in multiple locations.

This cooperation comes in line with the Singapore governments’ Industry 4.0 strategy, to grow the talent pool of cybersecurity professionals capable of tackling most Advanced Persistent Threats threatening the city-state’s Operations Technology (OT) systems. As part of the cooperation, Group-IB and ITE aim to provide students and adult learners with strong theoretical base and more importantly practical training in authentic learning environments within various cybersecurity domains.

Group-IB and ITE will jointly develop cybersecurity curriculum in the fields of computer forensics, threat hunting and cyber investigations. This will help to boost the level of practical knowledge in cybersecurity for students, while introducing more pathways for adult learners to retrain and enter the workforce in a new field while filling cybersecurity talent gap in Singapore at the end of the day. Training for ITE’s students and academic staff will be provided by Group-IB’s cybersecurity practitioners who are successfully dealing with the most sophisticated threats on a daily basis all over the world.

Cybersecurity is not just a theoretical science but an operational one. This is why one of the key elements of the MOU is the creation of the first Threat Hunting, Digital Forensic and Cyber Investigations Centre in ITE, where students will be able to get real-life, authentic, hands-on experience identifying and proactively hunting for threats relevant to the region and dealing with the ones targeting especially OT related systems. Group-IB will set up the infrastructure necessary to be used in authentic learning and research within ITE to enable students to have a feel of real-life incidents. The company has committed to equip the new Centre with its Threat Hunting and Intelligence solutions for adversary research, malware analysis, monitoring of underground activity, and network protection.
Group-IB will also offer top talents from ITE an opportunity to intern at Group-IB’s offices in multiple locations so that they can get real-world experience in the areas of threat intelligence, computer forensics, malware research and other cybersecurity-related disciplines.

The announcement of Singapore’s Operational Technology Cybersecurity Masterplan in October highlights the urgent need for talents in the cybersecurity industry. ITE is pleased to partner with Group-IB and leverage their vast experience and expertise to benefit our students and adult learners. In particular, the new Threat Hunting, Digital Forensic and Cyber Investigations Centre at ITE will greatly enhance the real-life, authentic and hands-on learning experience for our learners and allow us to develop trained manpower skilled in combatting cybercrime using the latest technical know-how.

Low Khah Gek

CEO at ITE

Cyber threats to OT systems and the financial sector are one of the most pressing issues of today in Singapore. Raising a new generation of threat hunters now, equipped with tactical and strategic knowledge about threat actors, is a backbone of the future stability of Singapore. This is an ambitious goal that we believe can be achieved by leveraging Group-IB’s experience in fighting cybercrime and ITE’s innovative approach to technical education. We hope that our cooperation will also have a strong and positive economic impact for the country by giving Singaporean citizens better job opportunities in one of the most rapidly growing fields.

Ilya Sachkov

CEO and founder at Group-IB

About Group-IB

Founded in 2003 and headquartered in Singapore, Group-IB is a leading creator of cybersecurity technologies to investigate, prevent, and fight digital crime. Combating cybercrime is in the company’s DNA, shaping its technological capabilities to defend businesses, citizens, and support law enforcement operations.

Group-IB’s Digital Crime Resistance Centers (DCRCs) are located in the Middle East, Europe, Central Asia, and Asia-Pacific to help critically analyze and promptly mitigate regional and country-specific threats. These mission-critical units help Group-IB strengthen its contribution to global cybercrime prevention and continually expand its threat-hunting capabilities.

Group-IB’s decentralized and autonomous operational structure helps it offer tailored, comprehensive support services with a high level of expertise. We map and mitigate adversaries’ tactics in each region, delivering customized cybersecurity solutions tailored to risk profiles and requirements of various industries, including retail, healthcare, gambling, financial services, manufacturing, crypto, and more.

The company’s global security leaders work in synergy with some of the industry’s most advanced technologies to offer detection and response capabilities that eliminate cyber disruptions agilely.

Group-IB’s Unified Risk Platform (URP) underpins its conviction to build a secure and trusted cyber environment by utilizing intelligence-driven technology and agile expertise that completely detects and defends against all nuances of digital crime. The platform proactively protects organizations’ critical infrastructure from sophisticated attacks while continuously analyzing potentially dangerous behavior all over their network.

The comprehensive suite includes the world’s most trusted Threat Intelligence, The most complete Fraud Protection, AI-powered Digital Risk Protection, Multi-layered protection with Managed Extended Detection and Response (XDR), All-infrastructure Business Email Protection, and External Attack Surface Management.

Furthermore, Group-IB’s full-cycle incident response and investigation capabilities have consistently elevated industry standards. This includes the 77,000+ hours of cybersecurity incident response completed by our sector-leading DFIR Laboratory, more than 1,400 successful investigations completed by the High-Tech Crime Investigations Department, and round-the-clock efforts of CERT-GIB.

Time and again, its solutions and services have been revered by leading advisory and analyst agencies such as Aite Novarica, Gartner®, Forrester, Frost & Sullivan, KuppingerCole Analysts AG, and more.

Being an active partner in global investigations, Group-IB collaborates with international law enforcement organizations such as INTERPOL, EUROPOL and AFRIPOL to create a safer cyberspace. Group-IB is also a member of the Europol European Cybercrime Centre’s (EC3) Advisory Group on Internet Security, which was created to foster closer cooperation between Europol and its leading non-law enforcement partners.