SINGAPORE: Units in the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) and Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) have been responding to the ongoing cyberattack by an alleged China-linked threat actor on Singapore’s critical infrastructure, said Minister for Defence Chan Chun Sing on Saturday (Jul 19).
These select units will work with the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore (CSA) in a whole-of-government effort to manage the incident, he added.
Coordinating Minister for National Security K Shanmugam first revealed on Friday that Singapore was actively dealing with the “highly sophisticated” UNC3886 group, which he said posed a serious danger to Singapore and could undermine national security.
UNC3886 has been described by Google-owned cybersecurity firm Mandiant as a “China-nexus espionage group” that has targeted prominent strategic organisations on a global scale.
On Saturday, Mr Chan was one of three Cabinet ministers to address the attack.
Minister for Digital Development and Information Josephine Teo said in a Facebook post that Singaporeans should be aware about the ongoing cyberspace threats the country faces, and that there was “never a perfect time” to disclose such incidents.
“We always have to strike a fine balance between maintaining operational security and raising public awareness, especially while live operations are ongoing,” she added.
“Imagine if threat actors succeeded in taking down any of our critical systems, such as water, power or telco networks. The knock-on effects could be devastating.”
