SINGAPORE: Starting from Saturday (Feb 15), more than 200 large companies and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) will participate in a phishing exercise for two weeks.
This phishing exercise, a first-time partnership between the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) and the Singapore Business Federation (SBF), is part of this year’s Exercise SG Ready.
It encourages businesses to “strengthen their cyber resilience and to review their business continuity plans in face of potential cyberattacks and other disruptions”, MINDEF said on Saturday.
The exercise will involve firms from different sectors including manufacturing, wholesale and retail trade, and construction, it added.
Exercise SG Ready, a nationwide Total Defence exercise, was launched last year in line with the 40th anniversary of Singapore’s national defence concept.
Total defence in Singapore encompasses the military, civil, economic, social and psychological domains, with the newest, sixth pillar of digital defence added in 2019.
The aim of Exercise SG Ready is to get individuals, communities and businesses to reflect on whether they are ready for disruptions and to put Total Defence into action through contingency plans for disruptions, MINDEF said in a news release.
This year’s exercise is co-led by MINDEF and the Energy Market Authority (EMA), with a focus on strengthening Singaporeans’ preparedness for power disruptions.
More than 1,000 organisations comprising schools, communities, businesses and government agencies will carry out different disruption or preparedness activities across two weeks. This is more than the over 800 organisations that participated last year.
On Saturday, the second edition of Exercise SG Ready was kicked off by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong at the Total Defence Day commemoration event held at the SBF Center.
During his speech, Mr Gan said Singapore must be alert to threats within the community as well as those in the digital world, and put in place robust safeguards to protect data, devices and systems online.
Businesses must also continue to stand firm against economic coercion, while also forging new avenues for growth in the region, he said.
People in Singapore must also “make the effort” to broaden their social networks with those of other races, religions and nationalities, Mr Gan added.
