In the course of his career, Mr Wahab Yusoff has seen cybersecurity grow from just an afterthought to becoming an imperative.
The 55-year-old vice-president and general manager (Southeast Asia) of Palo Alto Networks – who emphasises that “age is no barrier in this field” – started as an integrated circuit design engineer after graduating from the National University of Singapore in 1987 with a Bachelor of Engineering (Electrical Engineering).
He spent the next dozen years at several technology companies in the United States before joining cybersecurity company McAfee. At McAfee, Mr Wahab predicted that cybersecurity would go through rapid growth in the late 2000s.
“I’ve spent the last decade in cybersecurity,” he said. “It wasn’t so sexy when I started, but due to the rapidly changing threat landscape and the increasing sophistication of cyberattacks, the potential is huge.”
VULNERABILITIES DESPITE ADVANCEMENTS
Mr Wahab (picture) joined Palo Alto Networks in 2015, having been won over by its approach, which he sums up as “prevention is better than cure”. Today, he is responsible for growing Palo Alto Networks’ business in ASEAN.
“I felt a great sense of responsibility and purpose to protect ASEAN, given the state of exposure and vulnerability it was in,” he said.
There are several reasons why cybersecurity remains a weakness for ASEAN countries, explained Mr Wahab. The first lies in the increasing sophistication and complexity of cybercrime, such as ransomware and advanced persistent threats. Secondly, there are greatly differing levels of cybersecurity across ASEAN countries.
“The third reason is the dearth of personnel available to address and mitigate cyber threats. The fourth – a major exacerbating factor – is digital transformation, such as e-payment and the ubiquity of mobile devices,” he said.
“Cybercriminals are always on the hunt to exploit vulnerabilities in a digitally connected ecosystem.”
THE NEED FOR TALENT
Like the rest of the world, Singapore suffers from a shortage of cybersecurity talent. Mr Wahab believes education is the key, even for those already working in the sector.
Said Mr Wahab: “Information and Communications Technology (ICT) professionals or anyone who has an interest in upskilling themselves in cybersecurity solutions and knowledge can take up courses such as the Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP). The cybersecurity and solutions field is a fast-moving one, and there is a need to continuously keep yourself updated on the latest cyber threats and solutions available. We need to adopt a prevention-based stance and be equipped with the skills to deal with the evolving cyber challenges out there before they even hit you.”
CAREER SHIFT INTO CYBERSECURITY
This is a sentiment Mr Umasuthan Rengasamy (picture) readily identifies with. The 31-year-old took a less-than-direct path to his position as a senior consultant in Deloitte Singapore’s Risk Advisory team.
The holder of Bachelors in Business and Commerce from Monash University discovered an interest in IT through an elective module. In 2014, he graduated from a post-graduate Diploma in Systems Analysis at the National University of Singapore.
Not yet satisfied with his learning, he graduated from Nanyang Polytechnic this year with a Specialist Diploma in Information Security, having received his Master of Business Administration from Murdoch University (Kaplan Singapore) the year before.
It was in his first full-time job in the IT operations department of a Japanese multi-national corporation that Mr Umasuthan found the missing piece of his career puzzle: Cybersecurity. His responsibilities required him to be knowledgeable of IT security concepts, and his former bosses played a key role in shaping his career at the time. In addition to offering career guidance, they shared their extensive knowledge of IT and network security.
ON THE SECURITY FRONTIER
Mr Umasuthan landed at Deloitte in July this year, drawn by the opportunity to make the switch to IT security through the latter’s Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI) service line. He had learnt about Deloitte’s CTI service line while searching for a new job and knew he wanted to be a part of it.
Mr Umasuthan said: “CTI is a niche area in IT security and I believe it has great potential for growth in the near future. Many firms have a strong foothold in security operations and vulnerability assessments, but very few have strong competencies in CTI at present. Judging from the current trends shaping the IT security frontier, I believe that CTI would be a key area to build expertise in.”
Besides his specialist diploma, Mr Umasuthan has studied for and received his Certified Ethical Hacker and Certified Information Systems Auditor certifications.
He also enrolled in the six-month-long TechSkills Accelerator (TeSA)’s Cyber Security for Associates and Technologists Programme (CSAT). The CSAT, a joint initiative by the Infocomm Media Development Authority of Singapore (IMDA) and the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore (CSA), collaborates with industrial partners like Deloitte to provide on-the-job training in specialist areas such as Threat Intelligence and Digital Forensics.
Mr Umasuthan found that the CSAT programme helped equip him with relevant skills for his role at Deloitte. Firstly, he got to work with the part of the team that researches and builds CTI frameworks, processes and procedures. This is a key role as it sets guidelines for the firm’s analysts to follow. This also helped him gain invaluable project management experience, better preparing him for his current role at the firm.
“I highly recommend the CSAT programme, especially to IT practitioners from other spaces in IT with knowledge of IT security concepts. They can use the CSAT to gain formal on-the-job training with participating firms and expand their knowledge and skills.”
A BOOST FOR TECH SKILLS
TeSA is a Skillsfuture initiative driven by the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) in partnership with strategic partners; Workforce Singapore (WSG) and SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG) as well as in collaboration with industry partners and hiring employers.
It offers programmes to support current Infocomm Media (ICM) professionals and non-ICM professionals to upgrade and acquire new skills and domain knowledge that are in demand. It also helps them stay competitive and meet the challenges of a fast-moving digital landscape. For more information, visit imtalent.sg/tesa.
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