Accra: Singapore said Friday it was responding to a major cyberattack on its critical infrastructure carried out by an espionage group that security experts allege is linked to China. The Chinese embassy in Singapore described the allegations as “unwarranted smearing”. Singapore is dealing with a “serious” cyberattack against its critical infrastructure by a highly sophisticated entity linked by industry experts to China, the country’s coordinating minister for national security said.
According to France24.com, the attack, part of a sophisticated level of cyber hacks called advanced persistent threats (APTs), poses a serious danger to Singapore and could undermine national security, K. Shanmugam disclosed in a speech late on Friday. “I can say that it is serious and it is ongoing. And it has been identified to be UNC3886,” said Shanmugam, who is also the home affairs minister.
“If it succeeds, it can conduct espionage and it can cause major disruption to Singapore and Singaporeans,” Shanmugam warned. A successful breach of Singapore’s power system, for example, could disrupt electricity supply and have knock-on effects on essential services such as healthcare and transport.
“There are also economic implications. Our banks, airports, and industries would not be able to operate. Our economy can be substantially affected,” he said. He noted that between 2021 and 2024, suspected APTs against Singapore increased more than fourfold. A cyber breach on a public healthcare cluster in 2018 accessed the medication records of about 160,000 patients, including then-prime minister Lee Hsien Loong.
On Saturday, China’s embassy in Singapore expressed “strong dissatisfaction” with media reports linking UNC3886 to China. In a statement, the embassy said it “firmly opposes any unwarranted smearing of China” and that “in fact, China is one of the main victims of cyberattacks”. The statement added: “China firmly opposes and cracks down on all forms of cyberattacks in accordance with the law. China does not encourage, support, or condone hacking activities.”
The attack on Singapore’s critical infrastructure “highlights the extraordinary challenges posed by APT actors,” said Satnam Narang, senior staff research engineer at US-based cybersecurity firm Tenable. “Combating such stealthy opponents is becoming increasingly demanding as the scale and complexity of IT infrastructure that organisations and nations must defend continues to grow,” he said.