The Singapore National Research Foundation has awarded Kaspersky Lab with an undisclosed amount of grant under the National Cybersecurity R&D Programme Grant Call. The new development emerges following the collaboration between Kaspersky Lab and the National University of Singapore (NUS) to build a research project for identifying the source of advanced persistent threat (APT) malware.
Kaspersky Lab worked with the NUS to build its research project titled "Malware Source Attribution through Multi-Dimensional Code Feature Analysis". It has been aimed to create automated solutions to help security experts understand the similarities in malware used across cyberattacks more efficiently and find the attackers at a fast pace. Traditionally, cybersecurity professionals use the history of malware attacks to establish the possible origin of threat actors.
"We hope that the new technology developed together with NUS will help improve the speed of our research when it comes to code attribution. We would like to have practical solutions in the end that will be applicable and beneficial not only to us but all interested Singapore agencies," said VitalyKamluk, global research and analysis team director, Kaspersky Lab APAC, in a statement.
Launched in November 2016, Singapore's National Cybersecurity R&D Programme Grant Call is designed to highlight the potential for translational and deplorability of cybersecurity ideas and technologies. It identified three priority areas, including national security, critical infrastructure and smart nation.
Of the 23 proposals received, only nine participating companies were selected, included Kaspersky Lab, on the basis of their significance to create impact in Singapore and possible practical application in daily lives of the public. The selected companies have been granted with a total fund of SG$15.6 million.
Local favour
Kaspersky Lab has closely been working with Singapore to enhance cybersecurity in the Lion city. In 2015, co-founder Eugene Kaspersky was appointed as the member of the International Advisory Panel for Singapore's National Cybersecurity R&D programme, and the same year, the Moscow-based company established its APAC headquarters in the city.
One of the massive efforts between Kaspersky Lab and Singapore is the skill development programme that came through the Economic Development Board of Singapore to train Singaporean students with the opportunity to train at the company's headquarters as junior malware analysts. From the total batch of five students who have so far been sent to the one-year cybersecurity training, one is currently working with Kaspersky Lab itself while two of them are handling security developments at the Singapore Cybersecurity Agency and the remaining two are working for private companies in the city.
