State actors behind the Singapore cyber attack: experts



[ad_1]

State actors were probably behind Singapore's biggest cyberattack to date, security experts say, citing the scale and sophistication of hacking that hit the medical data of about a quarter of population.

Singapore's health minister said the strike was "deliberate, focused, and", said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who had been targeted by the "unprecedented" attack. While officials declined to comment on the identity of hackers citing "operational security," experts told AFP that the complexity of the attack goals -profile as the prime minister pointed out the hand of a state actor.

"A cyber-espionage threat actor could benefit from the disclosure of sensitive health information … said Eric Hoh, president of Asia-Pacific FireEye's cybersecurity company.

Mr. Hoh told National Channel NewsAsia television channel that the attack was an "advanced persistent threat."

"The nature of such attacks is that they are conducted by states -nations using very advanced tools, "he said.

" They tend to be well financed, well financed and very sophisticated. "- China, Iran and North Korea are accused of

Analysts, however, would not be drawn into speculation about who could be behind the hack.

The attack started two weeks after the rich city-state had hosted the historic summit between US President Do nald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Jeff Middleton, executive director of cybersecurity ntium, health care data is particularly interesting for hackers, as it can be used to blackmail people in a position of strength. "Many information about a person's health can be learned from the medications that she takes" Saturday.

"Any nonpublic 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.

Hyper-connected

Today, cybercriminals target more than individuals or banks, said Shahnawaz Backer, regional security specialist at F5 Networks.

"Government services, from health to education, are just as likely targets, as evidenced by recent attacks in Singapore," said Backer.

"While Singapore embraces the digital revolution , security breaches are inevitable. Our growing digital footprint is growing every day, and companies must take strong measures to protect and protect their data. "

Rich Singapore is hyper-connected and on a willingness to digitize government documents and essential services, including public medical records hospitals and clinics can share via a centralized database.

But the authorities have hindered these plans while they were investigating the violation.A former judge will lead a piracy investigation.

The Singapore authorities have warned against "Regarding the Prime Minister's data and the reasons for which he was targeted, I would say that it's perhaps best not to speculate on what the attacker had in mind, "said David Koh, director of the Cyber ​​Security Agency

Hackers used a computer infected with malware to access the database between June 27 and July 4 before administrators could spot an "activity in The government says it is pushing back thousands of cyberattacks every day and that it has long warned of abuses by actors as diverse as high school students in their bedroom at nation-states .

million. Coats described Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea as the "worst culprits" in attacks against US "digital infrastructures"

. [ad_2]
Source link