(Recast) Singapore's Defence Ministry suffers cyber attack, personal data stolen

Personal data of around 850 national servicemen and staff of the Ministry of Defence was stolen in "targeted and carefully planned" cyber attack, said the ministry in a statement on Tuesday.

The ministry stated that they detected a breach in its I-net system (I-net) in early February. I-net provides Internet access to national servicemen and ministry staff for their personal communications or Internet surfing using dedicated I-net computer terminals in the ministry and Singapore Armed Forces camps and premises. No classified military information is stored on I-net.

On-going investigations revealed basic personal data, comprising NRIC numbers, telephone numbers, and dates of birth was stolen from I-net. The ministry stressed the real purpose may have been to gain access to official secrets, but this was prevented by the physical separation of I-net from the internal systems.

Local newspaper the Straits Times quoted David Koh, Defence Ministry's deputy secretary of technology, adding the attack didn't come from camps or internal systems, neither was it the work of causal hackers or criminal gangs.

Upon detection, the ministry disconnected the affected server from I-net, according to the statement. Immediate and detailed forensic investigations were conducted on the entire I-net to determine the extent of the breach. As a precaution even though no breach had been detected, all other computer systems within the ministry/military are also being investigated.

All affected personnel will be contacted within the week. The ministry has also informed the Cyber Security Agency and the Government Technology Agency of Singapore to investigate other government systems. No breaches have been detected so far. Endit