By Andre Yeo

TOO poor to buy a new one when his computer was hit by a virus, the teen did the only thing he could: he learnt more about the virus and found a way to remove it himself.

That got Sunny Neo interested in computer security, and a potential cyber warrior was born.

Now 20, he is a final-year student at Temasek Polytechnic studying for a diploma in cyber and digital security.

The three-year course is relatively new and Sunny is part of its pioneer batch. He is also their top student, said his lecturers.

Not much has been written about the course since the first batch of students enrolled in April 2006.

As the students are taught how to fight cyber terrorism, cyber espionage, and prevent hacking, they can be recruited by security agencies in the fight against such crimes.

Temasek Polytechnic will be involved in Governmentware 2008 at the Suntec International Convention and Exhibition Centre from today to Thursday.

The annual IT and security exhibition is presented by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and organised by the business platform development company Image Engine.

It will showcase the latest in security technology, and cyber crimes will be one of the topics to be discussed.

Sunny's interest in cyber security began in August 2003 when he was 15.

That was when the dreaded Blaster worm hit 500,000 computer systems worldwide.

It had spread through the Internet and network connections and shut down Sunny's home computer in 60 seconds.

He was crushed.

His father had died in a car accident abroad when he was just seven months old.

His mother, 56, a cleaner at a multi-national company, earns around $1,000 a month and could not afford to buy him a new computer. He has two older siblings.

He read up on the virus and learnt how to remove it by visiting the website of a company specialising in computer solutions.

The hard way

Said Sunny: 'I had to do things the hard way. It got me interested in how the virus worked and how it could do so much damage.

'I was quite amazed by how the virus originator was able to control your computer and I 'respected' him in a way.

'My dream now is to be a penetration tester because you learn how things are run and how to exploit or protect computer systems.'

One of Sunny's lecturers, course co-ordinator Seah Chong Poh, 42, said the course was conceived three years ago to address the worldwide shortage of IT security professionals trained in fighting cyber espionage, cyber terrorism, identity theft and other cyber crimes.

Mr Seah, who teaches IT forensics at the poly, said: 'There are many people in the IT industry but there is a lack of IT security personnel.

'The IT specialists about four years ago were people who learned on their own and there was no formal training.'

To hone their skills, students are given different cyber crime scenarios and work in a group to identify possible clues in these cases.

In their computer lab, students are taught how to make exact copies of hard disks using different computer tools to enable them to examine any incriminating evidence in these disks.

Mr Seah said they must learn how to do it properly without contaminating the evidence so their findings can stand up to scrutiny in a court of law.

In learning how to fight cyber terrorism, they are taught how to sieve out messages hidden in pictures.

Sunny is among 60 students who will graduate next May.

All the students taking the course have been snapped up for job attachments by organisations like IBM, the Land Transport Authority, MHA and banks.

Singapore Polytechnic offers a similar three-year programme called diploma in infocomm security management.

There too, the students are taught how to be security administrators and they learn skills like ethical hacking and computer forensics.

The poly's pioneer batch of 40 students will graduate next February.

The course manager, Mr Lai Fook Ming, 46, said: 'They will be able to apply their skills in different scenarios including fighting cyber terrorism and solving crime with their computer forensics skills.

'They can be recruited by law enforcement and security agencies to fight such crimes and protect our national interests.'

Student Paul J Selva Raj, 19, wants to be a security consultant when he graduates, preferably in the financial sector.

He said: 'Money makes the world go round and with these financial troubles, the number of tools to carry out financial fraud will increase. I will be able to use my skills to prevent this.'

This article was first published in The New Paper on 7 Oct, 2008.