Safeguarding Singapore's Cyber Infrastructure

Ms Tin Pei Ling asked the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs (a) what is the Ministry's assessment of the threat made by the international hacker group Anonymous to attack the Singapore Government; (b) what precautions has the Ministry taken to safeguard Singapore's key infrastructure against such hostile actions; and (c) what will the Ministry do to send a strong signal that actions undermining our key infrastructure and Singaporeans' interests cannot be condoned.

In November 2013, our Police, with the help of their Malaysian counterparts, arrested a male Singaporean, James Raj s/o Ariokiasamy. He is believed to be the man behind a YouTube video which threatened our national security. The subject is currently facing charges under the Computer Misuse and Cyber Security Act (CMCA) and Misuse of Drugs Act (MDA). Police have also arrested and charged four other Singaporeans under the CMCA in connection with the unauthorised modification of the servers hosting the Istana and Prime Minister's Office websites. Police investigations found no indications to suggest that these activities were linked or organised. They were a disparate group of individuals. As the cases are now before the Court, I will not comment further on the details.

The Government takes a serious view of all threats to Singapore's cybersecurity. A trusted, secure and resilient information and communications (infocomm) infrastructure is critical to Singapore's national security and economic interests. The daily lives and well-being of Singaporeans will also be adversely affected if access to essential services is denied. The Singapore Infocomm Technology Security Authority (SITSA) under MHA, MCI and IDA work closely together to monitor and assess the state of our cybersecurity and strengthen it where necessary. Regular security scans and system patching are carried out on critical Government information infrastructure to detect and eliminate system vulnerabilities. In response to the possible threat to the Government's infocomm infrastructure, Government agencies have stepped up their vigilance and enhanced the security of their systems.

Following the November incidents, many Singaporeans have also voiced their disapproval and rejection of this form of criminal and anti-social behaviour. The Government will spare no effort to track down and bring to justice perpetrators of such criminal acts that undermine Singapore's infocomm

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infrastructure and our peace and security.