Singapore civil servants cut off from internet during working hours

In a bid to tighten cyber security, all computers used by Singaporean civil servants will be blocked from accessing the internet. The regulation comes into effect from May 2017.

This is a surprising decision in Singapore, one of the countries with the fastest Internet access speeds in the world.

Illustration

The Media Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) said the decision would not disrupt the Singapore Government's operations after the Straits Times reported that it would affect about 100,000 government computers connected to the network.

According to sources, this measure is aimed at preventing cyber attacks as well as the spread of malicious code that can penetrate the government's email network through civil servants' work computers with Internet access.

Many administrative services in Singapore are now conducted online, such as registering marriages, filing police complaints and consulting doctors via video. However, blocking Internet access on civil servants’ work computers will not affect these services.

According to the Strait Times, Singaporean civil servants can still access the Internet via personal devices such as tablets or smartphones.

In 2014, the Singapore government announced that it had strengthened its cyber security measures after a series of attacks on the website of Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and the website of the Presidential Palace./.

According to Vietnamplus.vn