Singapore

THE slumbering merlion is stirring: The Singapore Government’s move last week to regulate online news, including the local edition of Yahoo News, has resulted in public protests while Malaysians are watching developments closely after one of their own ministers said the Malaysian Government might follow suit.
 
Last Tuesday, Singapore’s Media Development Authority (MDA) announced that from June 1 onwards, “online news sites that report regularly on issues relating to Singapore and have significant reach among readers here will require an individual licence.”
 

Hackers stole from many PayPal accounts in Singapore in the past two months, highlighting the need for a higher level of security for accessing online accounts.

The losses range from $50 to more than $3,000, with many victims saying this was the first time it had happened to them.

Yahoo users in Singapore have been warned about spam e-mail that could leave them vulnerable to attacks by hackers.

A government information watchdog has advised them not to click on the links in these messages - even those that are supposedly sent by friends.

The warning was issued last Friday in a bulletin on the website of the Singapore Computer Emergency Response Team (SingCert). It said that there have been reports of spam e-mail from Yahoo accounts containing links to sites selling "work-from-home" schemes and packages.

Singaporean police have warned men in the city state of a five-fold increase in extortion cases in which they are coaxed into a state of undress, secretly filmed and then asked to hand over cash to prevent release of the resulting video.

Cops in the island nation said the number of such incidents has shot up from 11 in 2011 to over 50 last year.

In a bid to harden Singapore's cyberdefense, the government has proposed upgrades to its Computer Misuse Act.

To signify the change in tack, the Computer Misuse Act will be renamed Cybersecurity Act. The new Section 15A will now cover detection in addition to prevention and countering of threats which affect Singapore's national security, essential services, defense, or foreign relations.

Two-factor authentication just got a whole lot more convenient for residents of Singapore, after Standard Chartered Bank's local outfit teamed with MasterCard to offer account-holders a credit card that is also a one-time-password-generating hard token.

MasterCard calls the device a 'Display Card' and says it includes “an embedded LCD display and touch-sensitive buttons”.

Singapore's "vibrant" IT security environment, low rate of reported breaches and incidents, and not being at the frontlines of online attacks have lulled local businesses into a "false sense of security" which leaves them vulnerable.

According to Ngair Teow Hin, founder and CEO of security firm SecureAge, the "vibrant" security scene in the city-state with more than 100 security companies here, and existing laws such as the Computer Misuse Act, help deter people from hacking into organizations here. This can be seen by the low number of reported security incidents, he added.

Singaporeans are not doing enought to keep their online accounts safe, such as using unique passwords, changing passwords regularly, and the use of two-factor authentication (2FA), according to a survey by Assurity Trusted Solutions.

Released Thursday, the survey showed 60 percent of respondents who file their tax returns online and 59 percent who use other government services do not change their passwords. Some 45 percent participants also do not have different passwords for all their online accounts, it said.

Governments should spend more time and effort educating citizens and other countries on existing online threats and forge partnerships with private sector organizations rather than militarize the cyber arena.

Ex-pat IT professionals looking for a better quality of life abroad could do worse than try Singapore, the Japanese city of Kobe or Hong Kong – the top three most liveable cities in Asia according to new research from HR information provider ECA International.

The firm’s annual Location Ratings system is designed to help firms decide what level of compensation, if any, is required to offer ex-pats who move abroad with work.