Black Hat Asia 2020 comes to an end yesterday — although most of the content will still be available on the virtual conference platform for another month or so.
Every year at Black Hat Asia, Div0 is invited to present our observations and insights from the community.
2017, I presented how we build up Singapore's cybersecurity community;
2018, Fadli (my fellow Co-Founder) and I presented how we were involved in national bug bounty programmes and our thoughts regarding bug bounty practices;
2019, I presented the gaps we observed from the conversation cybersecurity practitioners are having vs. what the industry is selling vs. problems international institutes are trying to solve; and
For 2020, I thought I present a discipline that is very close to my heart — the securitisation of cyberspace. "Security" is a self-referencing act — it is a process and an abstract concept that can never be truly fulfilled. Seeing how cyberspace is slowly being nationalised in recent events, I thought it's important that we need to be blatantly aware of what exactly "security" is, in order for us to shape a better cybersecure future.
Quoting Prof. Fred Vultee:
"For even the most politically active audiences, the world of security known secondhand."
And Former Prime Minister of the UK, Margret Thatcher:
"Watch your thoughts, for they will become words. Watch your words, for they become actions. Watch your actions, for they become habits. Watch your habits, for they will forge your character. Watch your character, for it will make your destiny. What we think, we become."
"Security" will be what we "think" it is — and it is influenced by how we view the world. We ought to be very mindful of how we frame cyber threats to be.
Authored by Emil Tan, Skipper & Co-Founder, Div0.