Singapore’s Defence Ministry hit by 1st cyber attack Asylum rwxr-xr-x 0 4:21 PM

Filename	Singapore’s Defence Ministry hit by 1st cyber attack
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Singapore’s Defence Ministry has been hit by a cyberattack for the first time, said the ministry on Tuesday (Feb 28).

Personal information of 850 national servicemen and employees has been breached during the attack on ministry’s internet system (I-net) but no classified military data was stolen. Classified military information is stored on a separate system that is not connected to the Internet and has more stringent security features.

The stolen data includes national identity (NRIC) numbers, telephone numbers and dates of birth information which was stored on the system for account management, such as to track usage and surfing behaviour. No passwords were lost were compromised.

The affected server was disconnected after the breach was discovered, with immediate and detailed forensic investigations conducted on the entire I-net system to determine the extent of the attack.

The I-net system is used by national servicemen and MINDEF employees to access the Internet via dedicated terminals in ministry premises and Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) camps.

Singapore has become the latest government to be hit with a cyberattack. MINDEF’s Deputy Secretary, David Koh said the hack taken place earlier in February appears to have been "targeted and carefully planned" and the purpose of the attacks may have been "to gain access to official secrets."

Koh added that the investigations reports declared that the attack was not the work of casual hackers of criminal gangs. The ministry declared the report of hack later due to investigation process.

Cyberattacks targeting government systems are becoming increasingly common. Last year, the Russian government allegedly hacked into the US Democratic Party's computer network, gaining access to information related to the presidential election. Last week, NATO's deputy assistant secretary general for emerging security challenges warned cyberattacks have grown to threaten "the fundamental nature of democracy as a whole."

Soon after the breach, the social media was flooded with reports and reactions of people criticising the government’s lack of cyber security while others supporting the intelligence which protected the classified information.

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