Information security in Singapore: all officials are disconnected from the Internet
The government took such a step in order to ensure the safety of important information for the state in the computers of officials at the workplace.
Source: Bloomberg
From May 2017, all Singapore government employees will lose access to the Internet in the workplace. The authorities decided to use radical ways to ensure the security of important information for the state in the computers of officials. And in the framework of the new initiative, 100 thousand personal computers will be disconnected from the Internet. True, we are not talking about the complete destruction of networks - the intranet will remain, so that officials will still be able to exchange information within their local network at the workplace. In addition, personal devices from the Internet can not be disconnected (we are talking about tablets and phones). But in this case, the employee must ensure that the device does not have access to corporate mail.
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A spokesman for the information security department said: “The government of Singapore is regularly looking for ways to make our network more secure.” If you disconnect the intranet from the external network, then, of course, the probability of hacking public networks from outside tends to zero. Officials are allowed to send letters of a working nature from private postal services accounts. There will also be installed dedicated Internet terminals for those officials who need the Internet for work.
Singapore has taken a truly radical step for the sake of state security. After all, even banks, casinos, mobile operators, where strict rules for working with computer equipment, rarely completely turn off the Internet. However, in some banks, only selected employees can work with the Internet, mainly analysts, salespeople and representatives of the communications department. But on a nationwide scale, such measures are being taken for the first time.
According to Aloysius Cheang, representative of the Cloud Security Alliance, the Singapore government decided to return to the practice of working with the Internet, which existed in the 90s of the last century. It was then that the officials worked with the Internet through dedicated terminals.
“In the past, malicious software had practically no way to get on work computers and steal important information,” he says. “It has now become difficult to control leaks (information, ed.) To social resources or file-sharing sites,” Cheng complains. Recently, leaks of state-important information to the network have become frequent, the main channel of leakage is e-mail.
How the disconnection will be made across the country is not yet clear, since the Internet is part of many business processes in Singapore. Nevertheless, individual disconnections are already being made - the initiators of the project check how officials will work with local resources and Internet terminals in the absence of a general connection to the Internet.
The statement about the imminent Internet disconnection in state organizations appeared rather unexpectedly. After all, Singapore is one of the most technologically advanced countries in the world. Here, in particular, the Smart Nation project is launched, which is designed to make Singapore the first "smart" state in the world. True, some experts believe that this project is also a great way to introduce global monitoring of its citizens by the Singapore authorities.
Recently , another state was disconnected from the Internet - Iraq. The government planned to solve the problem of cheating from the web on the exam. As a result, the Internet was disconnected for several hours a day in the country (just at the time of the exams). True, here we are talking about a complete disconnection of the Network throughout the country, and not just about blocking access to the Internet for officials.
Source: Bloomberg
From May 2017, all Singapore government employees will lose access to the Internet in the workplace. The authorities decided to use radical ways to ensure the security of important information for the state in the computers of officials. And in the framework of the new initiative, 100 thousand personal computers will be disconnected from the Internet. True, we are not talking about the complete destruction of networks - the intranet will remain, so that officials will still be able to exchange information within their local network at the workplace. In addition, personal devices from the Internet can not be disconnected (we are talking about tablets and phones). But in this case, the employee must ensure that the device does not have access to corporate mail.
')
A spokesman for the information security department said: “The government of Singapore is regularly looking for ways to make our network more secure.” If you disconnect the intranet from the external network, then, of course, the probability of hacking public networks from outside tends to zero. Officials are allowed to send letters of a working nature from private postal services accounts. There will also be installed dedicated Internet terminals for those officials who need the Internet for work.
Singapore has taken a truly radical step for the sake of state security. After all, even banks, casinos, mobile operators, where strict rules for working with computer equipment, rarely completely turn off the Internet. However, in some banks, only selected employees can work with the Internet, mainly analysts, salespeople and representatives of the communications department. But on a nationwide scale, such measures are being taken for the first time.
According to Aloysius Cheang, representative of the Cloud Security Alliance, the Singapore government decided to return to the practice of working with the Internet, which existed in the 90s of the last century. It was then that the officials worked with the Internet through dedicated terminals.
“In the past, malicious software had practically no way to get on work computers and steal important information,” he says. “It has now become difficult to control leaks (information, ed.) To social resources or file-sharing sites,” Cheng complains. Recently, leaks of state-important information to the network have become frequent, the main channel of leakage is e-mail.
How the disconnection will be made across the country is not yet clear, since the Internet is part of many business processes in Singapore. Nevertheless, individual disconnections are already being made - the initiators of the project check how officials will work with local resources and Internet terminals in the absence of a general connection to the Internet.
The statement about the imminent Internet disconnection in state organizations appeared rather unexpectedly. After all, Singapore is one of the most technologically advanced countries in the world. Here, in particular, the Smart Nation project is launched, which is designed to make Singapore the first "smart" state in the world. True, some experts believe that this project is also a great way to introduce global monitoring of its citizens by the Singapore authorities.
Recently , another state was disconnected from the Internet - Iraq. The government planned to solve the problem of cheating from the web on the exam. As a result, the Internet was disconnected for several hours a day in the country (just at the time of the exams). True, here we are talking about a complete disconnection of the Network throughout the country, and not just about blocking access to the Internet for officials.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/395127/
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