Sherpasec: A Case Study on the Effectiveness of Cybersecurity Training by a Volunteer-Led Community-Based Professional Society in Malaysia

One of the ways to proliferate cybersecurity education and improve the quality of entry-level graduates in cybersecurity training would be participation in professional societies. These societies range from government-run societies like MBOT and societies with memberships based on professional certifications like SANS, ISACA and ISC2. Finally, there are volunteer-led community-based professional societies such as SherpaSec that are without pre-requisites, where only interest is required. This position paper evaluates the effectiveness in bridging public/private partnerships that such a volunteer-led society enables. We study SherpaSec, a volunteer-led cybersecurity community in Malaysia as the main case study subject. This paper aims to present an evaluation of the society's effectiveness in cultivating a sustainable cybersecurity ecosystem in a nation, namely Malaysia. As a spin-off of NanosecEdu, a platform dedicated to nurturing next-gen cybersecurity talent, SherpaSec bridges the gap between academia and industry through monthly meetups and activities. The community is integral to organizing and participating in various cybersecurity events, including the international Global Cybersecurity Camp (GCC), the Malaysian Cybersecurity Camp (MCC), and the Asian Cybersecurity Challenge (ACSC). SherpaSec also endorses SKRCTF, a Capture-The-Flag platform designed to introduce beginners to cybersecurity challenges. Through these initiatives, we state SherpaSec's contributions to building a robust cybersecurity talent pipeline, fostering industry-academia collaboration, and promoting knowledge sharing. The paper investigates how SherpaSec's multifaceted approach impacts cybersecurity education, research, and practice in Malaysia.