Celebrating 7 Years of STAR Labs SG

🎉🎊 Cheers to 7 Amazing Years! 🎊🎉

On 8th January 2018, STAR Labs SG Pte. Ltd. was born with a simple but bold idea: to do fun offensive research that protects customers. Seven years later, that spark of curiosity and innovation has grown into something extraordinary. 🚀

Our Humble Beginnings 🛠️

It all started when STAR Labs had a small, passionate group of researchers: Shi Ji, Wei Lei, Phạm Hồng Phi, Phan Thanh Duy, and Tạ Đình Sung. These pioneers didn’t just lay the foundation. They inspired others to join this wild roller coaster ride.

We hit a major milestone in 2019: 🌟 Phi pwned VirtualBox at Pwn2Own & Driven2Pwn in 2019. 🌟 Duy pwned Adobe Reader at TianFu Cup in 2019.

These moments lit the flame for the next generation of offensive researchers at STAR Labs.

As Jacob Soo once said: “We are not like Barcelona, Real Madrid, or Manchester City, where we can afford ‘Lionel Messi’ or ‘Kylian Mbappé’ of cybersecurity. We’re more like Ajax Amsterdam, scouting, nurturing, and empowering new talent.”

Calvin Fong was our very first intern. He nearly became the first Singaporean to make history at Pwn2Own. If not for an unfortunate mix-up between the Business Edition and Home Edition of Parallels! (Yes, Jacob takes full responsibility for that 😅. He bought the Business Edition but Pwn2Own was using the Home Edition) But Calvin’s journey inspired a wave of Singaporean students to explore internships at STAR Labs.

Fun fact: One of our former interns was ranked #1 at Code4rena. Seeing our alumni thrive fills us with pride.

Breaking Barriers, Building Legacies 🏆

When COVID finally eased, we encouraged our team to present at global conferences. It started with Billy Jheng Bing-Jhong and Muhammad Ramdhan, and today our team has presented 13 times at different conferences! 🎤✨

One of our proudest moment is probably Winning the “Champions League” of cybersecurity: Master of Pwn at Pwn2Own in 2022 🏆. We became the first Singaporean company to achieve this feat. Thanks to a brilliant (past and present) and diverse team (of 6 nations): Billy Jheng Bing-Jhong, Muhammad Alifa Ramdhan, Nguyễn Hoàng Thạch, Phan Thanh Duy, Poh Jia Hao, Ngo Wei Lin, Li Jiantao, Lê Hữu Quang Linh, and Daniel Lim Wee Soong.

Looking Ahead 🌟

In 2023, STAR LABS SG PTE. LTD. has been authorized by the CVE Program as a CVE Numbering Authority (CNA) due to the work done by Ngo Wei Lin and Jacob Soo.

In 2024, our CEO, Jacob Soo, along with Eugene Lim and Sim Cher Boon got together and said, “Hey, let’s do offensive centric security conference, but make it a fun experience for everyone. STAR Labs will fund it.” That was the birth of Off-By-One. Fast forward to today, and let’s just say things have gotten… a bit more interesting. 😉 we are launching our 2nd edition of Off-By-One Conference on 8-9th May 2025.

In 2024, STAR Labs also managed to get ISO 27001 due to the hard work of Carol Ng, Frances Loy and Eugene Teo.

Moving Forward: STAR Labs SG’s New Office Renovation Journey

To keep up with our growing team and ambitions, we’ve revamped our workspace to fuel collaboration and creativity.

Over the past few months, STAR Labs SG has undergone an exciting transformation. Our office space has evolved to reflect not only who we are today but also where we envision ourselves heading in the future. We are thrilled to share the journey of our new workspace. A space designed for creativity, collaboration, and growth.

We also re-introduced the “Chill Zone” featuring comfortable seating, table tennis table, massage chairs and a stocked pantry to help the team unwind after intense sessions of vulnerability research and development. STAR Labs provides unlimited snacks, drinks, and coffee (complete with a Nespresso coffee machine) to keep everyone energized and focused. Team members can even request specific snacks🥨. Although no one has taken advantage of this yet! Whether it’s grabbing a quick bite or playing a round of table tennis, there are plenty of ways to recharge.

We’re also excited about our newly added massage chair—a long-awaited addition. It’s the perfect way to unwind and rejuvenate, helping our team relieve stress and recharge both body and mind. 🧘‍♂️

Big shoutout to Nimal from Wah Interior, who did our renovation.

Nimal: The colour scheme I have conceived for Star Labs is although simple, i aspire to leave a lasting impression for Star lab’s customers and staff. Customers, repeat or prospective, are greeted with hues of blue, the Corp colour of Star Labs.For the rest of the office, my intention is to bring the outdoor to indoor, enabling the staff to have this chill work ambience. Work can be rather stressful so the earthy colors can kinda make one feel relaxed and creative ideas may flow freely. I maximized the space and created both inspiring and functional work spaces.The favorite part of our A & A has got to be the Town Hall space. Together with the correct lighting ambience, it brings out the “chill factor” in an office environment.

Thank You 💙

Here are some photos before and after renovation.