Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

SecurityWeekSecurityWeek

Cyberwarfare

Singapore Blocking Internet Access on Government Computers

Singapore confirmed Wednesday it would cut off Internet access for government work stations within a year for security reasons, a surprise move in one of the world’s most wired countries.

Singapore confirmed Wednesday it would cut off Internet access for government work stations within a year for security reasons, a surprise move in one of the world’s most wired countries.

The decision will not disrupt government operations, the Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) said after local daily The Straits Times reported that some 100,000 computers would be affected.

“We have started to separate Internet access from the work stations of a selected group of public service officers, and will do so for the rest of the public service officers progressively over a one-year period,” the IDA said in a written reply to AFP queries.

Industry sources said the measure was aimed at preventing cyber attacks as well as the spread of malware that might enter the government email network thought Internet-enabled work stations.

Singapore is one of the world’s most Internet-savvy societies, offering broadband speeds envied by many.

A wide range of government services are available online, including registering for marriage, filing complaints to the police and video consultations with doctors.

Government services will not be disrupted by the security measures, sources familiar with the plan said.

The Straits Times said public servants would still have access to the Internet on their personal devices such as tablets and smartphones.

Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.

Dedicated Internet-linked terminals will be issued to civil servants who need them for work, the newspaper added.

The IDA said the government regularly reviews measures to make its network more secure.

“There are alternatives for Internet access and the work that officers need to do, does not change.”

Singapore announced in 2014 it was stepping up IT security measures following attacks on a section of the prime minister’s website, as well the website of the presidential residence.

Written By

AFP 2023

Click to comment

Trending

Daily Briefing Newsletter

Subscribe to the SecurityWeek Email Briefing to stay informed on the latest threats, trends, and technology, along with insightful columns from industry experts.

Join the session as we discuss the challenges and best practices for cybersecurity leaders managing cloud identities.

Register

SecurityWeek’s Ransomware Resilience and Recovery Summit helps businesses to plan, prepare, and recover from a ransomware incident.

Register

Expert Insights

Related Content

Identity & Access

Zero trust is not a replacement for identity and access management (IAM), but is the extension of IAM principles from people to everyone and...

Cyberwarfare

WASHINGTON - Cyberattacks are the most serious threat facing the United States, even more so than terrorism, according to American defense experts. Almost half...

Cyberwarfare

Russian espionage group Nomadic Octopus infiltrated a Tajikistani telecoms provider to spy on 18 entities, including government officials and public service infrastructures.

Cybercrime

Patch Tuesday: Microsoft calls attention to a series of zero-day remote code execution attacks hitting its Office productivity suite.

Cybersecurity Funding

Network security provider Corsa Security last week announced that it has raised $10 million from Roadmap Capital. To date, the company has raised $50...

Cyberwarfare

Several hacker groups have joined in on the Israel-Hamas war that started over the weekend after the militant group launched a major attack.

Network Security

Attack surface management is nothing short of a complete methodology for providing effective cybersecurity. It doesn’t seek to protect everything, but concentrates on areas...

Application Security

Virtualization technology giant VMware on Tuesday shipped urgent updates to fix a trio of security problems in multiple software products, including a virtual machine...