| By Zakir Hussain | ||
 |  | SITSA will come under the ministry's Internal Security Department, which has been playing a key role in protecting the security of the Government's IT systems. -- ST PHOTO: JOSEPH NAIR FOR THE STRAITS TIMES |
A NEW Government unit has been set up to fight the cyber equivalent of terrorist attacks.
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It will work with private sector experts to strengthen critical IT infrastructure across a range of sectors, from telecommunications to power and water plants, said Second Home Minister K Shanmugam on Wednesday. This is to ensure that Singapore will not be brought to a standstill by enemy agents who hack into the computer systems of these important organisations and plant malicious software.
Speaking at the opening of a three-day seminar on IT security, Mr Shanmugam said: 'The volatile IT landscape of today demands that Singapore adopt a more proactive strategy that places emphasis on anticipating and neutralising emerging threats.'
Later, Mr Shanmugam, who is also Law Minister, told reporters that despite close cooperation with the private sector on IT security, the Government felt there was a need to intensify the protection of key installations.
'We decided there need to be a national-level organisation that brings all the different public sector areas together, to focus very intensely on key infrastructure such as power, water supply and communications. These are areas prone to attack. The people in charge will definitely look at security but it's very useful to have an agency that is solely focused on the security aspects and looks at it across sectors.'
The setting up of SITSA is prompted by attacks in recent years on the websites of governments and major organisations in countries such as Estonia, Georgia, the United States and South Korea.
There have also been attempts of global cyber-espionage by criminals and foreign governments. Led by Mr Ng Hoo Ming, SITSA will embark on two initiatives.
One, security of the national infocomm infrastructure will be beefed up, especially in key sectors such as energy, transport, water, banking and finance. Two, measures will be taken to prepare Singapore for large-scale cyber attacks.
From next year, SITSA will also hold cyber security exercises regularly to spot gaps and test the country's ability to respond and recover from online attacks. As many critical computer systems are designed, developed and run by the private sector, SITSA will work with its professionals to strengthen overall cyber defence capabilities.
Read the full report in Thursday's edition of The Straits Times.
