The Financial Services Information Sharing Analysis Center (FS-ISAC) announced the recipients of the Building Cybersecurity Diversity (BCD) scholarship in Singapore. The announcement was made at the FS-ISAC summit in Singapore.
According to Frost & Sullivan’s 2017 Global Information Security Workforce study, women are underrepresented in the global cybersecurity workforce at a mere 11 percent compared to their male counterparts. In Asia Pacific, women make up only 10 percent of the cybersecurity workforce.

The scholarship was started by FS-ISAC in 2016 to bridge the diversity gap by helping women interested in cybersecurity kickstart their careers. This is the first year the BCD scholarship is being offered in Asia Pacific. To date, FS-ISAC has awarded seven scholarships, with additional scholarships to be awarded in Europe and the U.S. later this year.

“FS-ISAC started the BCD scholarship because we believe that diversity of thought can help the global financial services industry stay ahead of cybercrime,” said Bill Nelson, president and CEO of FS-ISAC. “Women are underrepresented in our field by a large percentage, so FS-ISAC is trying to build up the talent pipeline with top students looking to break into the field.”

The scholarship offers $5,000 and a trip to the regional summit for a chance to learn and network with influential industry leaders. Scholarship recipients are also paired with industry mentors.

This year’s scholarship recipients are: Yvonne Soh, Tan Lixin, Tan Zhi Xuan Francine, Sun Meng and Gayathri Sugumar.

• Yvonne Soh is pursuing a diploma in digital forensics at Temasek Polytechnic in Singapore. She is also a member of the Singapore Symphony Youth Choir.

• Tan Lixin is pursuing a diploma in digital forensics at Temasek Polytechnic. She is also a member of Temasek Polytechnic’s Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA) student group.

• Tan Zhi Xuan Francine is pursuing a diploma in digital forensics at Temasek Polytechnic. She participated in ongoing cybersecurity research at the University of Waikato in New Zealand for three months. She is also a certified system administrator.

• Sun Meng is a Ph.D. candidate pursuing a degree in electrical engineering at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. Her research focuses on privacy preservation in data mining.

• Gayathri Sugumar is a Ph.D. candidate pursuing a degree in cybersecurity at the Singapore University of Technology and Design. Aside from her research, she has been a volunteer with the national cadets.