SINGAPORE: Hackers have infiltrated Singapore's government health database in the country's worst breach of personal data, stealing records on 1.5 million patients including the prime minister's own personal drug prescriptions, the government said on Friday.

Government officials did not say who might have been behind the attack, but a joint statement by the health and communications ministries suggested a high degree of sophistication.
 

"It was not the work of casual hackers or criminal gangs."
 

The hackers stole personal details and prescription records of patients who visited Singapore's outpatient clinics betweem May 1, 2015 and July 4 of this year, the statement said.

"The attackers specifically and repeatedly targeted Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s personal particulars and information on his outpatient dispensed medicines," the statement said.

Prime Minister Lee said in a Facebook post that he did not know what information the attackers were hoping to find.

"My medication data is not something I would ordinarily tell people about, but there is nothing alarming in it," he said.

Major cyber attacks have been rare in Singapore, which has invested heavily in cyber security over the past decade. The attack comes as the highly wired and digitalised state has made cyber security a top priority both at home and for its neighbours in the ASEAN regional bloc.

A Health Ministry official, who asked not to be named, said there may be "some inconvenience" as a result of the hack but the full extent of the impact was not immediately clear.

Cyber attacks on healthcare systems have surged in recent years around the globe because medical records can provide information valuable both to government spy agencies and criminal hackers looking to profit from identity theft.

"Medical data contains a trove of information – from personally identifiable data to financial details – that can be used to create a highly sought-after composite of an individual," cyber security firm RSA's Asia Pacific advisor Leonard Kleinman said.

"As it could contain any amount and level of information, healthcare institutions are among the most sought-after industries by criminals who can be motivated by a multitude of possible reasons," he said.

Singapore will set up a commission of inquiry to look into the hack and immediately move to strengthen government defenses against cyber attacks, the Ministry of Communications said in a separate statement. - Reuters

Kronologi to provide data backup service to Temasek's unit

KUALA LUMPUR : Kronologi Asia Bhd has partnered Temasek Holdings' member to provide data backup services.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia today, Kronologi said its wholly-owned subsidiary Kronicles (Singapore) Pte Ltd has signed an agreement with Trusted Source Pte Ltd — a subsidiary of Temasek Management Services, which is in turn a member of Temasek Holdings — on the collaboration.

Trusted Source offers end-to-end business and technology services, IT services and solutions including IT infrastructure and security, application development and business intelligence, enterprise management services, project management and electronic polling.

Under the partnership, Trusted Source and Kronicles Singapore will provide private data backup services for the former's subsidiaries.

Trusted Source intends to launch a Regional Disaster Recovery centre to support the regional data needs of its network of subsidiary companies. This centre will use Singapore as a physical point of presence.

Through this partnership, both parties hope to cater to the growing demand for data storage and protection solutions.

Kronicles Singapore will invest in new equipment and services to be installed at Trusted Source's new disaster recovery centre located in Singapore.

With this partnership, Trusted Source will be able to extend data backup, data storage and protection services to its customers within the Temasek group and external clients.

In a joint statement today, Kronologi's acting chief executive officer Philip Teo said the addition of Trusted Source as the group's partner is a strong endorsement to Kronologi's capability and reliability.

"We are excited with this partnership with Trusted Source for the value added data backup service which employs a private cloud architecture. The service has already attracted new subscribers and we are confident it will enable us to deliver value to Trusted Source's customers within the group and beyond," he said.

Meanwhile, Trusted Source's senior vice president Desmond Aw said the collaboration with Kronicles Singapore shows the company's commitment in strengthening data backup and protection to its internal and external customers with the intent to expand the service to many locations in Asia.

"It is the ideal solution for us to meet our growing needs for enhanced data storage and protection services," he said.