Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat announced Singapore’s Safer Cyberspace Masterplan 2020 at the opening ceremony of the virtual Singapore International Cyber Week last week.
Building on the 2016 Singapore Cybersecurity Strategy, the Masterplan outlines a blueprint for the creation of a safer and more secure cyberspace in Singapore.
The Masterplan was developed in consultation with industry and academic partners, it aims to raise the general level of cybersecurity for individuals, communities, enterprises, and organisations. It comprises three strategic goals: Securing core digital infrastructure, Safeguarding our cyberspace activities; and Empowering our cyber-savvy population.
Mr David Koh, Commissioner of Cybersecurity and Chief Executive, CSA, said: “Singapore’s digital transformation to achieve our Smart Nation goals in this post-COVID environment must be undergirded and enabled by robust cybersecurity.”
“To leverage the opportunities, we must also mitigate the risks. To this end, the Safer Cyberspace Masterplan aims to raise the general level of cybersecurity in Singapore for Singaporeans, our enterprises and organisations. Cybersecurity is a collective responsibility, where all stakeholders can and must play a role to protect ourselves in the digital domain.”
Securing our Core Digital Infrastructure
The first goal outlined was to defend Singapore’s cyberspace at the outset by minimising vulnerabilities in Internet architecture, devices and endpoints, and enterprise applications. Through this approach, end-users connected to the Internet in Singapore will have reduced exposure to known cybersecurity vulnerabilities.
He said that by strengthening the protection of the Internet architecture in Singapore, the Government will collaborate with Mobile Network Operators to secure Singapore’s 5G networks, and review and update the Multi-Tier Cloud Security standard for Cloud services.
The Government will also help consumers make informed decisions on the level of security offered by smart devices, by introducing the Cybersecurity Labelling Scheme to better secure user devices and endpoints.
To safeguard enterprise applications, enterprises are encouraged to leverage the National Digital Identity’s trusted services, such as MyInfo and SingPass Login, to augment their own identity assurance and authentication processes.
Safeguarding Digital Activities
The second goal aims to ensure swift detection and remediation of malicious cyber activities at the national and enterprise levels, in order to minimise the impact and damage caused by cyber threats.
The Deputy Prime Minister said that the Government will strengthen Singapore’s national malicious cyber activity detection and analysis capabilities with key initiatives such as an Artificial Intelligence-enabled Cyber Fusion Platform for threat detection and analysis, as well as an Internet of Things Threat Analytics Platform.
He added that enterprises must also play their part to protect themselves against cyber threats. The Government will support these efforts by introducing self-help resources and solutions for enterprises, through an Internet Cyber Hygiene Portal, and an integrated and automated Security-as-a-Service solution.
Empowering Singapore’s Cyber-Savvy Population
The third aim of the Masterplan seeks to empower our population to respond to cyber threats. This can be achieved through enhancing awareness of how to protect ourselves in cyberspace, changing our attitudes towards cybersecurity and encouraging the adoption of cybersecurity measures.
At the enterprise level, the Government will develop resources and toolkits that are customised for enterprise leaders, employees, Chief Information Security Officers and cybersecurity teams, so that enterprise leaders can make good decisions on addressing cyber risks that their enterprises face.
In addition, to encourage enterprises to adopt cybersecurity, the Government will roll out a voluntary SG Cyber Safe Trustmark by 2021. With the Trustmark, enterprises can demonstrate that they have put in place cybersecurity processes and measures. Clients can then select enterprises with the requisite cybersecurity assurance to meet their needs.
At the community level, CSA will also continue to expand its outreach efforts through the GoSafeOnline Community Outreach Programme.
Photo Credit: CSA
