As the world becomes increasingly digitally connected, the value of data has skyrocketed, with many referring to it as the new oil that fuels the global economy.
A new kind of never-ending war is waged in the shadows: Cyberattacks which attempt to either steal data or disable access for profit or political goals.
If cybercrime were an economy, it would rank as the third largest globally, with its projected costs (due to cyberattacks) to reach US$9.5 trillion (S$12.17 trillion) annually by 2025.
Recently, Interpol dismantled more than 20,000 malicious IP addresses or domains that have been linked to 69 information-stealing malware variants. Around the same time, Singapore took down 1,000 IP addresses that were linked to cybercrime.
These two incidents are just but a sample of the continuous ongoing war against cybercrime.
An increasingly digitalised public sector makes it a juicy target for cybercriminals. According to estimates, the sector is the third most targeted vertical by nation-state actors.
Government cybersecurity experts, often working behind the scenes, are fighting a relentless war against cybercriminals to keep us and our confidential information safe.
Celebrating the champions
To celebrate these heroes without capes, GovInsider has published its inaugural Public Sector Cybersecurity Champions 2025 report.
The report features around two dozen public sector officials from Canada, Germany, Estonia, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia and the US.
These champions share their concerns, hopes, and most importantly what they are doing to keep their governments safe.
While priorities and levels of digitalisation differ across the countries covered, the concerns shared remain largely the same, showing how global cyber threats are.
New threat vectors, lack of trained manpower and increasing involvement of organised crime and actors backed by nation-states orchestrating these attacks were some of the top concerns.
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Artificial intelligence (AI) is viewed both as a threat and possibly one of the best tools in cyber defence, particularly to bridge the manpower gap with automation.
Another major point comes from the interviews: the passion for the job that all the nominees share, and that they would choose cybersecurity again, given the chance to rewind the clock.
To them, it’s not just a career but public service.
Notably, despite significant underrepresentation of women in cybersecurity, they represent slightly more than 50 per cent of those featured, showcasing their growing influence within the field!
We are grateful to all our nominated champions for taking the time to respond to our questions.
We would also like to thank and acknowledge our community partners, Estonia’s Information System Authority of Estonia (RIA) and Cambodia’s Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (MPTC), for their support in making this report possible.
Meet our Public Sector Cybersecurity Champions 2025:
Cambodia:
H.E. Sam Sethserey, Director General of the General Department of the ICT Department, Ministry of Post and Telecommunications (MPTC)
Canada:
Joanna Murphy, Director General, Canada Sovereign Technology Strategy, Chief Technology Office Branch, Shared Services Canada.
Estonia:
Liina Areng, Director of EU CyberNet, Information System Authority (RIA)
Germany:
Carsten Meywirth, Director Cyberdivision, Federal Criminal Police Office (Bundeskriminalamt)
Indonesia:
Istiqomah, Head of CSIRT & PDP, Ministry of Health
Wahyu Ahadi Rouzi, Chief Digital and Information Technology, PT PLN
Interpol:
Cristiana Nador, Policy Analyst, Cybercrime Directorate, INTERPOL
Malaysia:
Mohamed Kheirulnaim, Head of Incident Response and Cyber Threat Intelligence, National Cyber Coordination & Command Centre (NC4), National Cyber Security Agency (NACSA)
Singapore:
Angela Wu, Director, Threat Intelligence and Response, Connectivity Cybersecurity & Resilience Group, IMDA
Beverly Sim, Senior Manager, Cyber Operations & Technologies, Cyber Security Office, Synapxe
Chan Yew Weng, Agency Chief Information Security Officer (ACISO), NLB
Eric Wong, Director, Cyber Operations & Technologies, Cyber Security Office, Synapxe
Lee Chee Hwan, Deputy Director, SingHealth CISO Office
Leonard Ong, Director, Sector Governance – Risk & Sector Governance, Synapxe
Lim Ee Lin, Deputy Director, CISO & Governance, Agency Chief Information Security Officer, Home Team Science & Technology Agency (HTX)
Dr Liu Yang, Executive Director, CyberSG R&D Programme Office
Michaela Chua, Development Programme Manager, Cybersecurity Programme Centre, Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA)
Syam Gumpalli, Director, Cyber Risk Management & Services, Cyber Security Office, Synapxe
Tan E-Seon Reggie, Director (Cybersecurity and ICT Governance), Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA)
Tan Shui-Min, Chief Information Technology Officer, National University of Singapore (NUS)
Thailand:
Amorn Chomchoey, Secretary-General, Nation Cyber Security Committee, National Cyber Security Agency (NCSA)
Saichon Saelee, Director of Cyber Coordination Department, National Cyber Security Agency (NCSA)
United States:
Mandy Andress, Chief Information Security Officer, Elastic
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