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SMEs tightening cyber defences in view of threats

SINGAPORE — In the wake of the latest global cyber attacks, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) here — which had previously been cited as a weak link for attacks — say they have been beefing up their defences in recent months amid greater awareness and having witnessed their systems come under siege.

Capitalizing on spying tools believed to have been developed by the U.S. National Security Agency, hackers staged a cyber assault with a self-spreading malware that has infected tens of thousands of computers in nearly 100 countries - including Singapore. REUTERS

Capitalizing on spying tools believed to have been developed by the U.S. National Security Agency, hackers staged a cyber assault with a self-spreading malware that has infected tens of thousands of computers in nearly 100 countries - including Singapore. REUTERS

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SINGAPORE — In the wake of the latest global cyber attacks, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) here  say they have been beefing up their defences in recent months amid greater awareness and having witnessed their systems come under siege.

While they have not been affected by the WannaCry ransomware that has been making headlines around the world, SMEs which TODAY spoke with said they are backing up their systems more frequently.

SMEs — which had previously been cited as a weak link for attacks — have been updating their anti-virus software regularly and making access to their IT systems more stringent, among other measures.

Meanwhile, the authorities said that, as of Monday (May 15), no government agencies or critical information infrastructure have been affected by the ransomware. The Cyber Security Agency of Singapore (CSA) also said it has opened up more avenues for the public to seek advice or assistance, roping in Internet service providers Singtel and StarHub, which will be setting up helplines.

Describing the latest attacks as “an issue of national importance”, CSA chief executive David Koh said:  “We will take all the necessary measures to counter the spread of the ransomware and help businesses and members of the public prevent or recover from it as quickly as possible.”

Mr Dan Yock Hau, director of the CSA’s National Cyber Incident Response Centre, said the agency’s Singapore Computer Emergency Response Team (SingCert) received three calls as of 5pm yesterday from business and members of the public on the ransomware. But these were “queries on how to prevent a ransomware attack rather than to recover from it”.  

Separately, the Government Technology Agency of Singapore (GovTech) said no government agencies’ operations have been affected by the global hacking attacks that were reported since Friday. Nevertheless, “a range of measures” have been put in place to minimise the likelihood of government systems being infected by malware, a GovTech spokesperson said.

The global cyber attack, which has affected more than 100 countries, has already claimed some victims here, including malls such as Tiong Bahru Plaza and White Sands. Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, Minister for Communications and Information and Minister-in-charge of Cyber Security, also warned in November last year that cyber attacks  on SMEs have wider economic implications, as they are often easy targets for cyber criminals looking to hack into large corporations that these firms work with.

Speaking to TODAY, Ms Nichol Ng, managing director of food distribution company FoodXervices Inc, said her firm has experienced a couple of cyber attacks in the last nine months. In one of the incidents, the cyber criminals tried to use email addresses similar to hers and her brother’s to request for money from her finance department. Since then, Ms Ng said her firm has changed its e-mail server and also performed more frequent back-ups of their systems — doing so every hour instead of once a day.

Mr Alwin Liang, chief executive of e-logistics start-up Roadbull Logistics, said his company’s system had recently detected a virus which was automatically resolved by its anti-virus system. His firm has always taken extra precautions given that IT is its “bread and butter”, he said. For example, staff are required to use the 2-Factor Authentication system to log in. “Having protection doesn’t come cheap. But we have a responsibility to our clients and customers,” he said.

Still, CKE Manufacturing enterprise development manager Kwan Lifeng acknowledged that given their limited resources, some SMEs do not make cyber security a priority.

“It is safe to say that (for) most SMEs ... unless there is a painful lesson, (it is) quite difficult to justify the resources to have a certain level of defence,” he said. His firm has put in place basic measures, such as installing anti-virus software.

But Mr Kwan suggested having industry guidelines and benchmarks on cyber security as reference for SMEs.

Mr C R Srinivasan, senior vice- president of global product management and data centre services at Tata Communications, estimates that only about 10 to 15 per cent of the firms here have the most updated anti-virus software updates and patches. But this is not a case where firms are complacent, he said. Most firms here may delay such updates to avoid the downtime involved, for instance.

Mr Sanjay Aurora, Asia Pacific managing director of Darktrace, noted that cyber threats are becoming more advanced. Firms could consider new ways to tackle these threats, such as the use of artificial intelligence-based cyber defence, where the software can spot an attack and take the appropriate action before it is picked up by humans.

  • Singtel customers can call 1688 while its SME customers can call 1606.
  • StarHub SME customers can call 1800 888-8888, which operates 9am to 6pm, Mondays to Fridays.
  • Residential customers can call StarHub’s 24-hour customer care hotline at 1633.
  • Businesses and members of the public can also contact SingCERT at singcert [at] csa.gov.sg or the hotline at 63235052.

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