Singapore's Cybersecurity At Risk?

The Singaporean Parliament has decided to table a Cybersecurity Bill in 2017 which will strengthen laws against online crime, The Straits Times reports. Channel NewsAsia reports that the Singapore Police Force (SPF) found that the 4% increase in crime in the past year was largely a result of cyber crime. Both residents and companies are at risk from the prevalence of online cheating and scams as Singapore becomes increasingly interconnected. Singapore is set to become the most hotspot-dense city in the world, currently second to Japan. Nearing the decision to discuss the Cybersecurity Bill, Parliament also decided to double the number of hotspots to 20,000 by 2018. Already, there are two million frequent users on Singapore’s public wifi network, Wireless@SG, clocking up to 10 million hours a month.

The interconnectedness of the nation-state is increasing the ease with which online criminals are able to operate. SPF’s Commercial Affairs Director, David Chew, states, “You could as well be transacting with a guy in [Singapore] or Nigeria for all you know, because the quality of the signal is so good.”

The increasing accessibility of the Internet and online transactions are most strongly reflected in Singapore’s economic sector: 20 percent of Singapore’s companies have fallen victim to cybercrime since 2014. Of the five most pervasive economic crimes, cyber crime ranks second at 43 percent. The number of cybercrime incidents has also increased from 15 percent to 43 percent in the last two years.

Small and medium sized enterprises (or SMEs) bear the brunt of the effects of cyber crime due to both cost and lack of awareness. According to the Minister of Communications and Information, Yaacob Ibrahim, their “lack of IT staff” means that they must rely  on “off-the-shelf solutions,” leaving them particularly vulnerable to cybercrime.

In 2014, Singapore’s highest per-capita losses resulted from cybercrime: on average, it costs $1,448 per victim. By the end of 2014, 1,560 accounts with Singpass, Singapore’s e-government services portal, were breached. Currently, Singapore’s National Cyber Security Research and Development Program is set to collaborate with seven Singapore government agencies, including the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Home Affairs, and the Cyber Security Agency, among others. The government has also decided to have Eugene Kaspersky, Russian cybersecurity expert, to join the international advisory panel for the program. Kaspersky’s software company is set to lead to advancements in Singapore’s digitalized state.

Currently, the banking and financial sectors are critical to the defense of Singapore’s cyber technologies. The most difficult aspects of improving the security of the country’s cyber technology will be the disparities within the financial sector and the borderless nature of cyber security threats. Large companies like Deloitte already have their own cross sector cybersecurity centers with hundreds of people, but smaller branch offices lack the same capacity. As Singapore becomes a hub for international trade and business, it becomes  increasingly critical to develop strong cybersecurity infrastructure.

As Ibrahim states, “It is inevitable that Singapore’s critical information infrastructure will at some point be targets…. [Singapore’s Cybersecurity Bill] is the necessary foundation for a successful digital economy.”