Cyber-security law amended to boost oversight of critical systems

Act updated to keep up with new tech models, use of outsourced services

- Osmond Chia

Lawmakers on May 7 passed a Bill that seeks to expand the oversight of Singapore's cyber-security watchdog over any computer system that is critical to the nation and at high risk of cyber attacks.

This includes temporary systems set up to support the distribution of vaccines and host key international summits and other high-profile events.

For instance, during the Covid-19 pandemic, many governments worldwide developed temporary systems to support the distribution of vaccines and many of these systems were targeted by bad actors, said Senior Minister of State for Communications and Information Janil Puthucheary in Parliament on May 7.

The expanded oversight of the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore (CSA) comes as threats can often be obscured with increased digitalisation.

Tabling the Cybersecurity (Amendment) Bill, the first changes to the Cybersecurity Act since it came into force in 2018, Dr Janil said that the Act had to be updated to keep up with evolving tech and business models, which often rely on outsourced digital services that can also span across borders.

"When the Act was first written, it was the norm for CII (critical information infrastructure) to be physical systems held on premises and entirely owned or controlled by the CII owner. But the advent of cloud services has challenged this model," he said.