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Cyber attacks can take many forms and come from many sources. They range from hacking, defacement of websites
and data theft, often by persons who hide behind the anonymity of cyberspace, which
Singapore experienced last year. And they can also include systemic threats against the
security of our national Critical Information Infrastructure. Last year, the attacks that
we faced did not impact upon our national Critical Information Infrastructure, but we
cannot rule that out in the future, or that such attempts will be made.
Cybercrime is also a growing concern. The number of cheating cases involving electronic
commerce more than doubled last year compared to 2012. Internet love scams also increased
by more than 60% and the amount cheated last year increased, more than S$5m, was 5 times that
in 2012. Now, the Police cannot solve this problem on its own, it requires people to have an awareness
of those sort of "too-good-to-be-true" offers, whether they appear in the physical world or the cyber world, and
to be wary of them. Because once you fall into the trap, I mean, for Police
to catch somebody who is somewhere else in another part of the world, is very very difficult. And this is not the physical
world; this is in the cyber world. So self-awareness is important. The Police will do its best
to do enforcement, and in increasing our ability to do investigations, even at the divisional
level.
Last year, we amended the Computer Misuse and Cybersecurity Act to strengthen our defences
against cyber-attacks. We continue to work closely with the community and industry to
promote good cybersecurity practices and expand Singapore's pool of infocomm security experts.
The National Cyber Security Centre will commence operations in April 2014. It will
work closely with sector leads responsible for each of their respective sectors on round-the-clock
detection of major national cyber threats. We are not where I would like us to be, but
we are getting there and will make progress to defend our critical infrastructure and
Singapore. The Cyber Security Lab in the Home Team Academy will open in September 2014.
It will provide realistic hands-on training for those regulating, managing and operating
national Critical Information Infrastructure.
Because the cyber world transcends national borders, and attacks can materialise without
notice from anywhere in the world, it is critical that we continue to work with like-minded
global and industry partners, to build a community of responsible and security-aware users, and
to strengthen our cybersecurity capabilities.