| February/March
2005 Updates Singapore unveils
Infocomm Security Masterplan
By
Goh Seow Hiong in Singapore, February 2005. The
Singapore Government has announced a series of new initiatives to help secure
the national infocomm environment. The move is considered an important one for
the country that is heavily dependent on infocomm technologies for managing its
day-to-day activities.
The Infocomm Security Masterplan that was unveiled
at the beginning of March was developed after a series of consultation with the
public and private sectors. This multi-agency effort led by the Infocomm Development
Authority of Singapore (IDA) identified the key areas that need to be enhanced
and proposed strategies to raise the level of awareness and preparedness against
cyber attacks. Deficiencies such as insufficient experienced professionals in
infocomm security, difficulties faced by businesses in formulating and complying
with IT security and best practices, and absence of awareness among employees
were flagged for remedial action.
The masterplan includes six integrated
strategies:
(a) Securing the People Sector
(b) Securing the Private
Sector
(c) Securing the Public Sector
(d) Developing National Capability
(e) Cultivating Technology and R&D
(f) Securing National Infrastructure
The approach adopted for implementing these strategies are based on current
best practices adopted by the public and private sectors. The plan will focus
on building capabilities, resources and skills in:
(a) Information protection
assurance and risk mitigation measures (including includes risk assessment, vulnerability
analysis and reduction, authentication and technology assessment);
(b)
Enhanced situational awareness and contingency planning assurance (including round-the-clock
vigilance and business continuity preparedness);
(c) Human and intellectual
capital development (including cyber security awareness of Internet users, the
development of professional skills and the promotion of research and development
in infocomm security).
A number projects are also being planned, including
a National Authentication Infrastructure for online transactions, a Business Continuity
Readiness Assessment Framework for public sector agencies, a National Cyber-threat
Monitoring Centre to defend against cyber attacks round-the-clock, and an Infocomm
Vulnerability Study of National Critical Infrastructure to assess the security
readiness of key national infrastructures.
|
2003/2004 edition 
2005/2006 edition