👨‍💻Shenanigans👨‍💻

Unsure of where/how to start your cyber journey?

March 10, 2024 by J

This blog post talks about Cyber related competitions/events/resources online and in Singapore.

---

Introduction

Well, I think it really depends on where you're currently at in the journey called life.

Let me try to break down into the current education stages in SG. There are some overlaps so give the whole article a read!

Primary School

I applaud you if you're at this age group and already reading this blog post hahah. At this stage, I'm guessing there won't be much knowledge about programming principles, let alone cyber concepts. You should look into joining your school's Infocom/robotics club or the equivalent. I'm not sure if Primary school teaches coding related subjects nowadays, but if you have those, pay extra attention to the basic programming logic! It'll be valuable in time to come.

Besides school clubs, it'll be good if you can start learning simple programming languages like python. Theres plenty of materials in National Library for you to borrow and read! I won't dive too much into this as a quick google search on how to learn programming will yield multiple valid responses.

Secondary School

Similarly, you should try taking on subjects that teach programming related concepts and also join related CCAs. This may be a good time to start researching on the basics of cybersecurity. There are plenty of resources that gives a good surface level introduction to cybersecurity. A good start is Coursera's Google Cybersecurity Professional.¹ I'm not sure if you need to pay for it. Previously NLB had free Udemy business subscription for all Singaporeans, now we have free LinkedIn Learning. You could also browse through LinkedIn Learning ² for their basic introductory courses!

If you're looking for something outside of your curriculum, try joining the Youth Cyber Exploration Programme (YCEP). ³ founded by CSA. There is a sequel AYCEP that is slightly more advanced for those who make it through their YCEP programme. Besides this, I highly highly recommend joining the Sentinel Programme ⁴ by MINDEF. If you're going to Sec 1, JC1, Poly1, please give it a shot.

Polytechnic, Junior College, University

This is where things get fun! At this point, i guess you should have more or less identified if you're keen on joining the Tech/Cyber related fields as that will determine the modules/courses you take in your respective education institute. Without further yapping, heres a list of recommended things to do!

• CSIT Mini Challenges ⁵ - These are really fun, every so often, they'll release a challenge of a different category. In Nov 24, its Cloud Development. I've done a few of these and it really helps break into a category that you dont have no experience in. The difficulty level is do-able with some googling and research. Highly recommend.
• The InfoSecurity Challenge ⁶ This is by CSIT too, its a annual CTF challenge that has multiple levels varying in topics and difficult. I find this quite tough and you'll definitely need some experience to find success in this CTF. Nevertheless, its a good experience! Dont fret if you get stuck and can't solve a challenge, you can read write-ups of the winners on their website too.
• BrainHack - Cyber Defenders Discovery Camp ⁷ Organised by DSTA, its also an annual event that has multiple mini events that you can sign up for. One of it is CDDC, which is a CTF competition that has a training phase before the qualifiers and finals competition. This is a good avenue to tag onto the free learning materials provided by the organisers. The compeition itself is of a slightly wider scoped and covers more topics than TISC.
• GovTech Stack the Flag & AI CTF ⁸ GovTech organises some CTFs too. Check those out at their website. They also have Hackathons like "Build for Good".
• HackTheBox and TryHackMe These platforms have both theory and practical labs for you to learn and have hands on some cyber topics!
• SANS Holiday Hack Challenge 2024 ⁹ Yet another seasonal free challenge for you to pick your brains!
• Global CTFs ¹⁰ Can't get enough of CTFs?
• PortSwigger ¹¹They have some free labs that are really useful in learning web security and application testing.
• Apply for Internships and Scholarships Once you've graduated JC, you can start looking for a scholarship with the company of your dreams. (provided you know what you want to do!) Else, you can actually wait till you're mid-way through university to apply for the merit scholarships. Dont be afraid to Email and reach out to the companies to enquire more. You'll miss every opportunity you dont take.
• Certifications Start small. If you have access to free resources like Udemy and Coursera, do those! If you have the means to pay and study a commercial cert, do it! More importantly, you need to understand what you're learning and not just for the sake of taking the exam.
• Projects & Contributions These will really showcase your skills and interest in that field. Want to create a honeypot or a Keylogger? Do it! Want to contribute to your favourite GitHub project? Do it!
• Others - School When i was studying in NTU, i will occasionally receive email blasts from my faculty (SCSE) on events like Shopee/Lazada hackathons. Sometimes other school clubs like NUS Greycats or SIT n0h4ts will also have compeitions/events that you can join, so keep a look out for those.

This list will probably get really long, but I hope you get the idea.

Beyond School days

At this stage, you should be applying for a job or already found a job. But remember, learning never stops! The stuff you learn in school is probably of no use at work hahah. Thats why you need to keep afloat and up to date with the current tehcnology trends. I would recommend taking certs if you're able to finance it. What cert to take? Go to this Security Certification Roadmap website for a detailed breakdown. This varies based on your interest area. If you're diving 100% into Security and Risk Management, no point doing software security or incident handling. My suggestion is always do what you like and try your best to focus on one area. That makes you develop strong skills that will be highly sought after.

TLDR;

Self study, do hands on labs wherever possible, play CTFs, join Hackerthons, apply for internships and make friends! Friends are the most important :) find a community of like minded people. Feel free to connect with me on Linkedin and I'll do my best to advise!

---