SINGAPORE — To bolster the Republic’s fight against cybercrime, a national plan to tackle it has been unveiled, one that will see the authorities step up efforts to educate the public — especially the elderly and children — and strengthen laws to deal with cyber criminals.

Speaking at the annual RSA Conference on Wednesday (July 20), Home Affairs and Law Minister K Shanmugam said the National Cybercrime Action Plan was developed to coordinate efforts in fighting cybercrime, an evolving threat that can wreck “tremendous damage” to societies worldwide. 

The four-point plan will focus on public education, enhancing the Government’s capacity to fight cybercrime, strengthening legislation and building partnerships with the industry.

For instance, the revamped Scam Alert! (scamalert.sg) portal includes platforms for members of the public to share personal scam experiences and lodge police reports. Information gathered will help the police identify crime trends and deal with them, said the Home Affairs Ministry (MHA).

The portal also tells visitors what to look out for and how to prevent themselves from 21 types of scams, such as cyber extortion scams and LINE scams.

The police will also work with schools and non-governmental organisations to raise awareness among vulnerable groups such as senior citizens and children. For instance, the National Crime Prevention Council will launch mobile applications targeted at children later this year.

Noting the over 40 per cent rise in crimes under the Computer Misuse and Cybersercurity Act (CMCA) last year compared to in 2014, Mr Shanmugam stressed that we have only seen the “tip of the iceberg” in this “growing and evolving threat”.

“The more connected we are, the more vulnerable we become to cybercriminals ... They hide behind the shadows and the scale and speed with which they can strike is such that it can cause tremendous damage,” said Mr Shanmugam.

The number of e-commerce cheating, credits-for-sex and Internet love scams almost doubled to 3,759 cases last year, continuing an upward trend seen in 2014. These three types of crimes saw victims cheated of a total or more than S$16 million.

The CMCA, last amended in 2013, will be amended again to ensure that it remains effective in dealing with the transnational nature of cybercrimes and evolving tactics perpetrators wield, said Mr Shanmugam. Existing laws in the Criminal Procedure Code will also be reviewed.

It was also announced in April that a new Cybersercurity Bill will be tabled next year to ensure that operators of information infrastructure take active steps to secure their systems and report incidents.

“In the past, crime is often territorial, geographical ... Today, it is across borders. And we have to update our laws to ensure they remain relevant and redefine what crime is, if necessary,” Mr Shanmugam said. “So what happens in the real world will have to be replicated in the virtual world. We have to develop the tools, make sure they are updated for that.”

Law enforcement agencies’ will be provided with new tools to better guard against and investigate cybercrime. For example, a digital evidence search tool will automate the forensic processing of large volumes of data, lightening the investigation workload of officer, and speeding up the processing time for digital evidence. 

The MHA’s Cyber Security Lab will also expand its curriculum to cover topics like digital foren-sics and malware analysis.

Mr Shanmugam also called for more partnerships across the Government, private sectors and ed-ucation institutions, both here and abroad.

For example, the MHA is working with the private sector to develop customised malware tools, and will jointly launch a lab with Temasek Polytechnic to support students specialising in cyber-crime and cyber security.

To encourage knowledge sharing and best practices, an Institute of Safety and Security Studies has been launched, offering training courses not just for Home Team officers here, but also part-ners in the Asean member states.

Mr Shanmugam also noted that last year, after a spate of credit-for-sex scams committed by syn-dicates operating in China, the police here worked with their Chinese law enforcement counter-parts to conduct simultaneous raids, and 43 syndicate members were arrested. 

Speaking at the conference after Mr Shanmugam’s address, Interpol Secretary-General Jurgen Stock agreed that international cooperation was needed to fight cybercrime. 

Apart from the advent of sophisticated technology, a growing “underground economy” is fuel-ling the rise of cybercrime, said Mr Stock.  

“On the one hand, there is increasing professionalism. On the other hand, even (individuals) not very developed in terms of technology can buy the tools they need to increase to commit crime on the Internet,” he said.