Wealthy Singapore’s a prime target for global hackers

FILE PHOTO: Tourists visit the Merlion Park in Singapore May 24, 2018. REUTERS/Edgar Su/File Photo

Singapore’s status as a hyperconnected financial hub makes it a prime target for hackers, and recently reported attacks have intensified the focus on cybersecurity as it pushes to become one of the world’s leading technology hubs. 

In what local media have been calling the largest data breach in the country’s history uncovered last month, hackers stole information on 1.5 million patients including Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong during an attack on Singapore’s biggest public health-care group, SingHealth. Within days, the Securities Investors Association (Singapore) also reported that hackers stole the personal data of 70,000 members in 2013.