The National University of Singapore (NUS) and Nanyang Technological University (NTU) networks were breached by hackers last month (April 2017), according to the Cyber Security Agency (CSA) and the Ministry of Education (MOE). CSA said: "We know who did it, and we know what they are after."
This is a case of cyber forensics at work -- using forensic computing to secure and examine digital evidence which is central to criminal investigations involving digital media.
Singapore's Ministries of Defence and Foreign Affairs systems have also been breached. And just over the past weekend, about 150 countries worldwide were hit by cyber-attacks on an unprecedented scale.
It is against this backdrop that Kaplan Singapore is beefing up its cyber security programmes offered through reputed partner universities to produce digital forensics and cyber security specialists in response to a growing market for such personnel to fight rising cybercrime. The initiatives are:
* Kaplan will incorporate EC-Council's cyber security features into its Foundation Diploma and Skills-based Diploma programmes to produce cyber-savvy graduates.
* EC-Council is the world's largest cyber security technical certification body and operates in 145 countries globally. Kaplan signs a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) todayto formalise this arrangement with EC-Council, and Wissen International, which markets EC-Council's programmes.
* EC-Council is the owner and developer of the world-famous Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH), Computer Hacking Forensics Investigator (C|HFI), Certified Security Analyst (ECSA), License Penetration Testing (Practical) programmes, among others.
Under the terms of the MOU, EC-Council will:
* Grant permission for its Certified Secure (CSCU) course to be incorporated into Kaplan's Foundation Diploma (KFD). This is projected to be launched in the third quarter of 2017
* Grant permission for its Certified Security Specialist (ECSS) and Certified Network Defender (CND) courses to be incorporated into Kaplan's Skills-Based Diploma (KSD). These are projected to be launched in the fourth quarter of 2017 (subject to CPE registration).
Kaplan will launch a new University of Portsmouth degree programme in Forensic Computing in December 2017.
This will provide a core background in computing as well as the principles, techniques and processes essential in training to be a computer forensics investigator. With rising cybercrime, such investigators are needed for a range of offences -- from minor indiscretions to major embezzlements and serious sexual offences, in which trained personnel need to track information on digital media and examine digital evidence necessary for criminal investigations.
Graduates of University of Portsmouth's programmes elsewhere have gone on to become digital forensics and cyber security specialists.
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