Cisco partners with CSA to enhance Singapore's cyber resilience

Cisco and the Cyber Security Agency (CSA) of Singapore have announced a Memorandum of Collaboration aimed at enhancing the country's cyber and digital resilience.

The agreement focuses on various areas such as threat intelligence sharing, capacity building, and talent development, as part of efforts to strengthen Singapore's security and economic framework. The collaboration is expected to bolster the nation's cyber defence capabilities within Cisco's Country Digital Acceleration (CDA) programme in Singapore.

According to Cisco, the increasing complexity and interconnected nature of the modern world necessitate the enhancement of digital resilience for organisations to combat sophisticated cyber threats. Cisco's work with CSA will integrate its networking and security expertise, drawing on capabilities like Splunk's security offerings and Cisco Talos's threat landscape visibility.

Under the terms of the collaboration, Cisco will contribute to building Singapore's cyber resilience by utilising its market-leading tools to offer complete visibility and insights across digital footprints. This will enable a cross-exchange of ideas, insights, and best practices among CSA and the broader cybersecurity community. Cisco Talos, a globally recognised group in threat intelligence detection, plays a crucial role in this effort, leveraging partnerships and telemetry data to ensure digital resilience.

Another focus area under Cisco's CDA programme is strengthening the country's defence capabilities. Cisco will provide advisory support along with CSA by exploring new methodologies to translate cyber defence strategies into actionable technical designs and technologies for national initiatives.

The partnership between Cisco and CSA extends beyond national boundaries, targeting cybersecurity enhancement in the ASEAN region. They plan to develop a secure cyberspace ecosystem by implementing an ASEAN Cybersecurity Assessment Model (ACAM) programme. Cisco and CSA will also explore potential collaborations with the ASEAN-Singapore Cybersecurity Centre of Excellence to support cybersecurity training and assessment in ASEAN countries.

Cisco and CSA aim to bridge the cybersecurity skills gap by nurturing a robust cyber talent pipeline. Through various initiatives such as Cisco Networking Academy's educational programmes and other activities like security operation centre training and Capture-the-Flag competitions, both parties seek to upskill professionals, support mid-career transitions, and cultivate future talents in the field.

Ms. Tay Bee Kheng, President of Cisco ASEAN, commented, "As cyber threats become increasingly sophisticated, security needs to move at machine scale.

"Data has become the ultimate differentiator as it enables businesses to correlate telemetry data with business context to help detect and stop issues wherever they occur.

"We are delighted to bring the power of Cisco Security with Talos, and now Splunk, to this collaboration with CSA to help Singapore remain digitally resilient."

Mr. Dan Yock Hau, Assistant Chief Executive (National Cyber Resilience), CSA, added, "Cybersecurity is a team effort, and we look forward to expanding our collaboration with Cisco to enhance Singapore's cyber resilience and its standing as a leading digital hub in the region.

"Through this partnership, CSA intends to explore new platforms to facilitate the cross-sharing of threat intelligence information as well as spearhead initiatives to boost the talent pipeline for Singapore's cybersecurity workforce."