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Thank you for visiting SIG^2’s portal. It has been close to 3 years since SIG^2
took a walk into the pages of history.
I may not be the most appropriate person to write an epitaph for the
organisation, but I can see no other who could and would do it.
I was one of the co-founder of SIG^2 in 2001, and
became the first elected President since 2002. As a young engineer, I was enthusiastic
and passionate about information security.
As the first and de facto information security interest group
officially registered with the Registrar of Societies in Singapore, I saw
my fate, that of my peers as intimately intertwined with the fortunes of
SIG^2. It was an exciting dawn for
information security and we see that there might be a chance that SIG^2
would eventually evolved into a professional society for information
security professionals at the same level as the Law Society of Singapore and
the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Singapore. We were there to make it happen; and in a
way, it did - in the form of the Association of Information Security
Professionals ("AISP") in 2008, a result where SIG^2 could
proudly state that we are induction step that prove that AISP was possible
and necessary, and was instrumental in defining much of the workings of
AISP and seen to the formation of it; and in doing so,
"transited" to the new era.
SIG^2 had many firsts. She was the first official interest group
for information security professionals; at the epitome of her time,
membership numbered slightly over 1,000.
She was the first host for the many world famous blackhats that came
to Singapore; and cultured a rich information security research community
in Singapore that had many internationally projects that produced
world-class research papers. She was
the first to outreach to the neglected lot of information security
professionals in Singapore with monthly or even bi-weekly events, regular
newsletter updates and support to both local and international information
security conferences, some as far as USA.
As the pioneer in information security community in Asia-Pacific,
she became a reference model for many like-minded groups in Asia-Pacific,
from Malaysia to Indonesia, from Philippines to HK and China; and SIG^2 had
a hand in the formation of many of these communities and had close
relationship with them till the end of days. As a young organisation, we were dynamic
in making use of resources, but that did not stop us from having fun
either; we had two or three of our AGM held in the now defunct nightspot,
The NewsRoom in Robertson Quay with free flow of beer!
Slowly, SIG^2 became to play an important part in
charting the information security strategy of the Nation. We were invited to the committees of
various National-Level working group and partook in the inaugural Chief
Security Officer Roundtable which plotted the first information security master-plan. Besides, we became the bridge between the
blackhats and the whitehats, and eventually became the conduit from
information security to technology; and in latter years, business. But despite how well SIG^2 was doing we
still felt that we need to be recognised as an official professional
association and own our own career roadmap, knowledge base and a tiered
membership that corresponds with the professionals' level of experience
with strict inspection of his credentials as well as ethnics, akin to the
CPA of the accountants. And we this
strict control in place, we can manage the quality and quantity of
information security professionals in Singapore and potentially worldwide,
if our model is proven effective and we could grow in the mould of ACCA,
making use of our relationship with the information security bodies
regionally to promote the growth of a worldwide body for a professional
association of information security professionals. Besides making Singapore into a global
powerhouse in the form of a information security hub, more importantly it
also create additional value for Singapore information security
professionals because for once our credentials will be recognised at an
international level, trans-border, which is important as the nature of the
job is that information security professionals are constantly on the
move. And we see the form and hope,
that will take SIG^2 and the information security professionals further, in
AISP.
The formation of AISP took several years. SIG^2 had become a stout voice in
determining the form and direction of the new professional
organisation. Originally it was to
form as a Chapter under the Singapore Computer Society ("SCS"),
but SIG^2 was originally planned to be formed under SCS initially too, but
we strived as an independent organisation so we did not see eye to eye with
IDA on taking a step back. After 1
year of lobbying, we took IDA back to the negotiating table and AISP (then
called project "AINSEP", which is another acronym for Association
of Information Security Professional) became to take shape as an
independent organisation formed under the auspices of IDA and SCS where
these two organisations will be represented on the board of directors of
AISP. In acknowledging that
Singapore is too small for 2 information security interest groups or
bodies, and to make the wait for the launch of AISP to be even sweeter,
SIG^2 had agreed to become dormant for the whole year of 2007. SIG^2 refused to be transited in totality
to AISP and coerced all our members to become AISP members. This is because it is for the information
security community to recognise the value of AISP; if AISP is doing the
right things, information security professionals will sign up for it
willingly. Furthermore, as the
purpose is the manage the quality and quantity of information security
professionals, it makes sense to start everything afresh and with a set of
stringent recruitment policies. And
there are still many proud SIG^2 members out there wearing that SIG^2
t-shirt - they do not take it kindly that SIG^2 is gone and replaced by
AISP, so let's not agitate them even further :)
I shall end this with a nice little prose from our
ex-VP, Mr. Clement Leong. IT
Security. By enthusiasts, for
enthusiasts. Forever!
Aloysius
Cheang, Fall 2010
POP
THREE
I just want to be out there
to be awed by how the WAN links criss-crosses the seabed
and realise how this NIC is just a niche
to see what beckons beyond the edge
will i finally be whizzing with the light
or just still be chugging like on a 10 BaseT net?
the application is calling
the layers are gossiping
i might be the next one to go
envelopes awaiting: presentation, network and data link
but i'm still stuck here, lingering
because of this IPSEC key exchange thing
the application is still calling
finally the key is ready
all its hundred and twenty eight bits
my envelope is forming
coated with illegible writings
why must this mess get between me and my exit
swoosh!
from darkness to green NIC and the blue ethereal
clones of myself appeared, am i still real ?
all seeking the gateway, looking for deliverance
some dived into IPs and are forever slienced
whatever remained found the default, and poofed into vanishment
what is this new world where
RIPs are not needed
how do i move when not a single OSPF is chattered
but i do move, i do move
in droves and multitudes, funny looking mates, we all move
so autonomous, but what to do
hey! clones of myself are
siphoned off this tap!
this is not even my destination yet!
how can they do that, what the heck
trust someone to have the cheek bullying a little packet
my unintelligible coat gave a
slight flutter
"worry not, about that hedious sniffer,
he can copy, snoop and even capture
he might even huddle the world's computers over
but never will he read what's beneath this cipher"
from blue to
green to darkness
the envelopes are stripped to see what is offered
layers passed me till the ultimate seventh
felt like speedy ascension through the heavens
"Did i do ok? Was i compromised ? there were bad guys sniffing like
i'm on
Wi-Fi!"
"Fret not, my child. Kiddies can't even spell SSL.
None messes with us, whom muster on the hundred and tenth door of the
house."
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