Student Stories

Why I Chose A Career in Cyber Security: Digital Transformation and the Rise of Security Threats

 

“As the world moves into digital transformation, many security issues will arise. On that account, the demand for security professionals is increasing. For me, studying cyber security at PSB Academy will benefit me tremendously in future, especially in the workplace,” said Sa Ji Yun, who embarked on the Bachelor of Science with Honours in Cyber Security course in Coventry University last year. She also got a chance to attend demonstrations, security programming courses and vulnerability assessments, which are what cyber security professionals do at the workplace.

She explained, “Coventry University is quite reputed in STEM (Science, Technology Engineering and Mathematics) internationally, and there are not many academies offering cyber security or computer forensics courses in Singapore.” Ji Yun liked the fact that the Coventry University programme is well structured, and its self-directed learning sessions add value for students by allowing them to gain more in-depth experience if they choose to. There are also practical sessions, such as programming, pen-testing and report-writing. And unlike other universities, she only needed 12 months to complete the course and graduate, which is an attractive factor since she could graduate faster and start working to gain real-life experience.

Ji Yun, who hails from South Korea, was active in school, having joined the Singapore Computer Society and participated in many school events, hackathons and webinars. Besides being selected as the class representative of her cyber security major class, she was also made a leader of the website management team. Her team worked together with other teams, such as publicity, outreach and logistics, to organise the New Horizons event, where external speakers were invited to speak on topics relevant to the students.

Amidst all the activities, Ji Yun still managed to come in first in her class for the entire cyber security module and even acquired another certification to add to her resume. “During term breaks that last about 3 to 4 weeks each, I have acquired the AWS (Amazon Web Services) certification,” she elaborated.

Ji Yun has certainly achieved a lot at PSB Academy within a short span of time. She attributed her academic and personal success to the lecturers at PSB Academy, especially Mr Ong and Mr Ankit. Both of them are passionate educators who provided her with opportunities to explore further certifications and ideathons in cyber security. They were always ready to provide help and resources, such as journal articles, books and videos to assist her in her studies.

Among her cherished memories is the time when she was sharing about her experience at PSB Academy with the staff from Coventry University during a virtual meeting session. All in all, she is happy that she has got to know many new friends, and they learnt new skills from one another too.