As ransomware attacks are becoming increasingly menacing and highly sophisticated, Singapore has set-up a dedicated cyber task force to fight with the ransomware threats in the current cyber landscape and shield critical infrastructure such as power, transport and healthcare.
Ransomware task force of Singapore comprises senior staff members from CSA, GovTech, Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Home Affairs, Monetary Authority of Singapore, Singapore Armed Forces and Singapore Police Force.
We all know Singapore is a highly developed country with everything from businesses, suppliers and partners digitally interconnected. So, hackers can infiltrate such networks via vulnerabilities and hijack the services easily.
To prevent any such incidents in the future, the cyber task force will take all necessary steps to curtail file encrypting malware attacks.
Theo Chee Hean, the Senior Cyber Minister, announced at the 7th Annual Singapore International Cyber Week the setup of the task force.
It is worth noting that the Counter Ransomware Task Force(CRTF) announcement came just within a fortnight of the Singapore Singtel’s Australian company Optus and Telstra were hit by a cyber attack in September and October this year, respectively.
In the future, Singapore’s CRTF will work closely with international law enforcement agencies and cyber centers such as NCSC and USA’s CISA to stop the free flow of crypto funds to criminals and spot new threats. A mechanism to track down fraudulent financial transactions and nab the criminals is also under the process of development- all to counter ransomware spread and overall crime.
