Who led an unprecedented cyberattack in Singapore? Experts point to "state actors"



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The US-actors were probably behind Singapore's biggest cyberattack so far, security experts say, citing the scale and sophistication of hacking.

The state announced Friday that hackers had hacked a 1,500,000 Singaporean database, including Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong who was specifically targeted in the "unprecedented" attack.

Singapore's health minister said the strike was "a deliberate, targeted and well-planned attack and not the work of casual hackers." While officials declined to comment on the identity of hackers citing "Operational security," experts said the complexity of the attack and its focus on prominent targets such as the prime minister stressed the hand of a state actor. 19659002] "A threat actor of cyberespionage could take advantage of the disclosure of sensitive health information … to coerce an individual in 1945 09:05] said Eric Hoh, Asia-Pacific president of the FireEye cybersecurity company [19659002] Hoh told Channel NewsAsia national television channel that the attack was an "advanced persistent threat".

Chinese hackers targeting financial data of US firms, reports report

"The nature of these attacks is that they are conducted by nation-states using highly advanced tools," he said. -he says. "They tend to be well funded, well funded, and very sophisticated."

Cyber ​​attacks are particularly relevant to cyberattacks, as they can be used to blackmail people in positions of power, said Jeff Middleton , chief of cybersecurity. Lantium

The nature of these attacks is that they are conducted by nation-states using highly advanced tools

Eric Hoh, cybersecurity expert

"Lots of health information from A person can be gleaned take, "Middleton said Saturday. "Any non-public health information could be used for extortion.Russian spying services have a long history in this area."

Medical information, such as personal data, can also be easily monetized on criminal forums, said Sanjay Aurora, chief executive of Darktrace in Asia-Pacific. A more sinister reason to attack would be to cause widespread disruption and systemic damage to the health service – as a fundamental part of the critical infrastructure – or to undermine confidence in the competence of an organization. nation to protect personal data, "he said.

Rich Singapore is hyper connected and seeks to digitize government documents and essential services, including medical records that hospitals and public clinics can share via a centralized database. But the authorities hindered these plans while they were investigating the cyberattack. A former judge will lead an investigation into the incident.

Singapore authorities warned against drawing hasty conclusions about the attackers

"Regarding the Prime Minister's data, I would say" Not to speculate on what the The attacker had in mind, "said David Koh, director of the Singapore Cyber ​​Security Agency.

Chinese hackers targeting satellite and defense companies find

Authorities said the weapons Singapore's military were among the most advanced in the region, according to the government, which claims to have repelled thousands of cyberattacks every day – long warned of violations by actors as diverse as high school students in their US bedrooms. nations.

Earlier this month, US intelligence chief Dan Coats described Rus sia, China, Iran, and North Korea as "worst culprits" in e attacks against "digital infrastructure" American

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