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Friday, January 21, 2011

[SIG]Special interest group meeting for year 1 and 2's



After 3 long week of holidays, the special interest group (SIG) is back! The year 2 conducted revision on port scanning and covered vulnerability scanning! The students were seen enjoying their time together as they bond and learn new knowledge together! At the end of the session, a practical spot quiz was conducted to ensure that the year 1 students really learned what was taught!

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Computer Hacking Forensic Investigator (CHFI) Updates

12 Jan 2011. Another 2 of our DISM year 3 students took the renown EC-Council's Computer Hacking Forensic Investigator (CHFI) professional certification exam and passed.

Congratulations to these 2 students. They have cleared one of the most challenging certification exam. These 2 students are:
1) MOHAMAD DANIEL BIN HAMID
2) SINGH ISHAAN GIRISH


We offer this programme in SP to all our DISM students. You have a chance to obtain a professional certification in computer/digital forensics WHILE studying for your Diploma in Infocomm Security Management (DISM) diploma. Remember, we are the "one and only polytechnic" in Singapore to work with EC-Council under the Academia Partner Programme.

If you have just received your GCE "O" level results and is now considering which security diploma course to choose, don't hesitate. Make DISM your FIRST CHOICE and you will be on the bandwagon to join our students towards a diploma plus professional certification pathway.

For the Diploma in Infocomm Security Management (DISM) course, the code is S54.

About CHFI
The CHFI course provides the participants with the necessary skills to identify an intruder's footprints and to properly gather the necessary evidence to prosecute. Many of today's top tools of the forensic trade are taught in this course, including software, hardware and specialized techniques. If you or your organization requires the knowledge or skills to identify, track, and prosecute the
cyber-criminal, then this is the course
for you.

CEH and ECSA Updates

12 Jan 2011. More DISM students passed their Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) / EC-Council Certified Security Analyst (ECSA) professional certification exams this afternoon. The exam was conducted in DMIT Infocomm Security Labs. Total of 4 DISM graduands and 3 DISM students took and passed the CEH/ECSA exams.

Congradulations to following individuals:

1) HENG AIK HWANG EDWARD
2) YEAP SEAN KEONG
3) SIM ZI RUI MERVYN
4) CHEN JIANWEI
5) LUQMAN HANIFF BIN OMAR
6) ESMUND KOH ZHER YONG
7) SHUN HANLI HANLEY

Another solid evidence shown on the quality of students and demonstration of academic excellence in SP.

Our DISM Year 3 student, Luqman. He passed the CEH exam. He is also our D-Link scholar.

Our DISM graduands (from L to R): Sean, Mervyn, Edward and Jian Wei. They passed the CEH exam.

Our DISM Year-3 students: Esmund and Hanley. They passed the ECSA exam.


Tuesday, January 11, 2011

DISM Course Counselling

Do you have a burning question about Diploma in Infocomm Security Management (DISM) S54, poly education, further education or career choices open to you after O levels? Visit our JAE Centre (SP Convention Centre) and talk to our friendly lecturers and student counsellors who will be most delighted to advise you.


What are the questions you should be asking:
- Cut-off point of the course (NS: Low COP means better students in the cohort)
- Qualification and experience of lecturers (NS: IT security-related certifications that they hold)
- Advanced standing with universities (NS: Not school level but course level)
- Cohort success rate (NS: Complete the course within the stipulated 3 year duration).
- Progression rate to universities (NS: How many students go to universities)
- IT security-related professional certifications for students (NS: Should be IT security-related and not other general networking certifications)
- Scholarships available to course students (NS: Not school level but course level)
- Scholars in the course (NS: Not poly/school level but course level), such as the Integrated Infocomm Scholarships and National Infocomm Scholarships.

Giving you one example, in year 2010, SP was awarded 16 Integrated Infocomm Scholarships representing 50% of total number of scholarships awarded by iDA to all 5 polytechnics' students. Among the 16 scholarships, 6 of the recipients were DISM students. This number is at course level and not school/poly level.

If you are a high-achiever, consider a course with a lower cut-off point. In year 2010, DISM has a cut-off point of 15. With a lower cut-off point, the learning experience will be more stimulating and exciting because you know the the course will offer you the best potential, scope and knowledge. It also stretches you and your talent which eventually will offer you many open doors to move on to the next milestone.

So don't hesitate, choose Diploma in Infocomm Security Management (DISM) S54 as your FIRST CHOICE now.

If you have further questions, you can talk to our friendly lecturers and student counsellors during the Joint Admissions Exercise (JAE) at SP Convention Centre (SPCC).

Final Year Project Sharing: Image Forensics Toolkit

Project Title: Image Forensics Toolkit
Categories: Computer Forensics, Digital Forensics, Image Forensics
Students: Yeo Quan Yang, Tan Boon Siong, Kang Xian Yang, Ng Jun Xuan, Lee Jun Ting
Organization: I2R
Supervisor: Samson Yeow (SP), Dr Ng and Dr Gao (I2R)

Synopsis: The purpose of the project is to explore the use of recaptured data and to develop counter-measures to deal with facial recognition attacks with photos

Aim: It aims to create data that can help in detecting image of images and an infrastructure to research and facilitate on capturing recaptured images. The data which we use consists of images of scenery and facial images and they are recaptured using many kinds of devices. Some of them would be the Acer M-900 phone, HP iPAQ hw 6960, Nokia N95 and the iPhone 3GS. As for the infrastructure, it will be a website which hosts data samples of recaptured images that we have collected for users to use as research data.

In this project, the group found out that illumination and camera angles are very crucial factors in good data samples. The quality and clarity of the recapturing device is also very important in recapturing images. As for the website, the group decided to let people download the dataset so that researchers may use it if they are keen on this direction of research too because image recapture datasets are not widely available on the internet now.


Commenting on his learning experience, student Yeo Quan Yang said, "Through this project, I learn that we should be clear of what we are doing and also the scope of the project so that we would understand what we are doing and avoid doing things that are out of the scope. Teamwork is also very important, as we need everyone to complete their task on time so that we can move on to the next task."

"Taking recaptured image is not an easy task as well. I have to consider the wind and brightness of the photo. Location is an important factor. It has to be neither too bright nor too dark. At the start, my hand would be shaking a lot when taking the photos. Now, I can take very quickly and without much error." said Tan Bong Siong.

Another student, Kang Xian Yang said, "If I have not taken this project, Image Forensics Toolkit, as my final year project, I will most likely have not thought of using pictures to bypass facial recognition authentication systems. I feel this is an ingenious way of hacking. This shows that hacking is not just limited to the programming level. And there are other ways of hacking."

Monday, January 10, 2011

Perfect Score for Security+ Exam

10 Jan 2010. Great achievements by the DISM students. 17 DISM students (3 from Year1, 11 from Year2, 3 from Year3) obtained the CompTIA Security+ Certification in December 2010.

Of which two of the students scored a perfect score of 900/900. They are:
1) WONG HAO WEN (DISM Year 2); and
2) YANG XUDONG (DISM Year 1).

Well done, DISM students!!!

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Joint Admissions Exercise (JAE) 2011

The Joint Admissions Exercise (JAE) will begin on Monday (10 Jan) and end on Friday (14 Jan). Be sure to check out the courses we have to offer and the opportunities for you to be Work-Ready, Life-Ready and World-Ready.

For the Diploma in Infocomm Security Management (DISM) course, the code is S54.

Come visit us at the JAE.


Course Counselling
Do you have a burning question about poly education, diploma courses, further education or career choices open to you after O levels? Visit our JAE Centre (SP Convention Centre) and talk to our friendly lecturers and student counsellors who will be most delighted to advise you. We also have laptops available for you to submit your JAE applications.

Hours of Operation:
10 Jan (Monday) - 2.30 pm to 5.30 pm
11 - 13 Jan (Tuesday - Thursday) - 8.30 am to 5.30 pm
14 Jan (Friday) - 8.30 am to 4.00 pm

Saturday, January 8, 2011

SP Open House 2011 - Great Event

8 Jan 2011. This year, we had a very successful Open House event (from 6 Jan 2011 to 8 Jan 2011). Many visitors came to SP to find out about the courses available in SP.

DISM staff and helpers were very busy during the Open House period. They had counselled many potential students who were interested in signing-up for Diploma in Infocomm Security Management (DISM) course.

We hope they will make their own preferred "1st choice" when the actual GCE '"O" level is released this coming Monday. Remember, the course code for DISM is S54. Good luck!





Thursday, January 6, 2011

Computer Hacking Forensic Investigator (CHFI) Certification

At SP, we offer this programme to all our DISM students. You have a chance to obtain a professional certification in computer/digital forensics while studying for your Diploma in Infocomm Security Management (DISM) diploma. Remember, we are the "one and only polytechnic" in Singapore to work with EC-Council under the Academia Partner Programme

Computer Hacking Forensic Investigator (CHFI)
Computer crime in today’s cyber world is on the rise. Computer Investigation techniques are being used by police, government and corporate entities globally and many of them turn to EC-Council for our Computer Hacking Forensic Investigator CHFI Training and Certification Program. Computer Security and Computer investigations are changing terms. More tools are invented daily for conducting Computer Investigations, be it computer crime, digital forensics, computer investigations, or even standard computer data recovery, The tools and techniques covered in EC-Council’sCHFI program will prepare the student to conduct computer investigations using groundbreaking digital forensics technologies.




Computer Investigation
Computer hacking forensic investigation is the process of detecting hacking attacks and properly extracting evidence to report the crime and conduct audits to prevent future attacks.

Computer forensics is simply the application of computer investigation and analysis techniques in the interests of determining potential legal evidence. Evidence might be sought in a wide range of computer crime or misuse, including but not limited to theft of trade secrets, theft of or destruction of intellectual property, and fraud. CHFI investigators can draw on an array of methods for discovering data that resides in a computer system, or recovering deleted, encrypted, or damaged file information known as computer data recovery.

Electronic Evidence
Electronic evidence is critical in the following situations
• Disloyal employees
• Computer break-ins
• Possession of pornography
• Breach of contract
• Industrial espionage
• E-mail Fraud
• Bankruptcy
• Disputed dismissals
• Web page defacements
• Theft of company documents

Finanl Year Project Sharing: Mac OS X Forensics

Project Title: Mac OS X Forensics
Categories: Computer Forensics, Digital Forensics, Mac OS X
Students: Adam Ong, Andy Low, Tham Kok Keong, Toh De Wei
Organization: DSO
Supervisor: Dennis Wong (SP), Peter Teoh (DSO)

Synopsis: The purpose of this project is to perform computer forensics to retrieve deleted data in the Mac OS X‟s default file system. The study of the file system and data structure will also be carried out.

Aim: It aims to carry out computer forensics on an operating system that is seldom used by many. Cache files will be retrieved. The web pages that have been visited in the past can also be retrieved. Emails can also be retrieved.

Final Year Project: The FYP intends to provide students an opportunity to integrate knowledge and technical skills they have acquired from the course and experience problem solving, communication and working as a team to work on an Infosec Security Project. In the project, the students are expected to perform problem analysis, investigation, solution design and implementation of security related project

The students in this project spent one semester to complete the project. This involved the study of the operating system, evaulation of computer/digital forensics tools and wrting the report. It was important to note the project was co-supervised by SP lecturer and DSO researcher. The students had learnt the technical know-how from both the supervisors in the area of computer/digital forensics, and really benefited from the project.

"Through this Final Year Project on Mac OS X Forensics, I have a better understanding of the Macintosh File System which is the Hierarchical File System Plus. I had the chance to test out forensic tools such as The Sleuth Kit, Autopsy Forensic Browser, Safari Forensic Tool, File Juicer and HFS Debug. All these tools are essential in the process of performing computer forensics on the Mac. I also realized that data residue still exist after being deleted from the system. The concepts behind computer forensics never change, hence, the skills and knowledge acquired during the process will serve as a foundation for our computer forensics module." said Kok Keong.

Another student, Adam said, "Having done Mac OS X Forensic as my Final Year Project, I have become more familiar with Macintosh Operating System as well as the importance of forensic tools used in the event of a forensic investigation. Don’t ever think that data wiped from your trash will be destroyed permanently, they’re not!"

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

SP Open House 2011

Come to our SP Open House 2011 (6 - 8 Jan, 10am to 6pm). There will be free & easy walking tour – in addition to the campus bus rides, visitors to our Open House and Parents Forum are free to follow the Legacy Trail and/or Green HeritageTrail on their own time. Specially designed brochures will be available and sign posts will be erected at various hotspots.

iPhone users can search and download the SP Trails app from Apple App Store - http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/sp-trails/id410502281?mt=8


For more information, please visit http://www.spoh.sg/.

Spinnovex 2011

4 Jan 2011. This year, the SPINNOVEX is integrated into the Open House to the theme of “I/We Create My/Our Legacies” at SP. Most of the SPINNOVEX projects will be showcased in a gallery show, in the spaces between T11A and T11B.

DISM will showcasing two projects in the Spinnovex 2011, namely:
1) hBot - Instant Messenging Honeypot; and
2) Automatic Malware Classification.

Come visit us at the Spinnovex 2011!

We have 3 more Red Hat Certified Engineers (RHCE)

29 Dec 2010. Congratulations to the following DISM students who passed the Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE) exam:

1) ANG MING YI
2) YEO QUAN YANG
3) SINGH ISHAAN GIRISH

More students passed EC-Council Exams

29 Dec 2010. Congratulations to the following students who passed the EC-Council exams:

Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) Exam:
1) FUN HAO XIANG LLEWELYN
2) LEE YONG RONG
3) ANG JINGSHI
4) SAMUEL WANG ZIRONG
5) PANG YONG HE

EC-Council Certified Security Analyst (ECSA) Exam:
1) TAN CHENG SHEN