SAF, partners counter cyber attacks in drill

Malicious cyber-attacks could poison Singapore's water supply or cause a massive blackout, and over the last two days more than 100 people engaged in an exercise to learn how to defend the Republic against these threats.

- Clement Yong

On Tuesday and Wednesday, about 55 employees from the cyber-security teams of 16 organisations including Singtel, SMRT, Sembcorp and ST Engineering joined specialists from the newly formed fourth arm of the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) in the inaugural Critical Infrastructure Defence Exercise (Cidex).

It was the first cyber-defence exercise held by the SAF since the Digital and Intelligence Service (DIS) was formed in October, and was likely the largest drill of its kind in Singapore.

DIS and Cyber Security Agency of Singapore (CSA) staff took on the roles of state-sponsored hackers or ransomware criminals to attack water treatment and distribution plants and the power grid system of a fictional "Mystira" state, while other exercise participants defended against the attacks.