Singapore (VNA) – Singapore’s worst cyber-attack in its history, inwhich personal information of about 1.5 million people, including PrimeMinister Lee Hsien Loong, was stolen, has the hallmarks of a state-linkedgroup, said Singaporean Minister for Communications and Information S.Iswaran.

Speaking in parliament, S.Iswaran said that detailed analysis has found thatthe attack was the work of an “Advanced Persistent Threat” (APT) group, whichis typically state-linked.

It was referred to a class of sophisticated cyber attackers who carefullyplanned cyber campaigns to steal information or disrupt operations, he said,adding that APT groups often use advanced tools, including customised malwarethat is able to evade the health care provider’s antivirus software andsecurity tools.

“The attack fits the profile of a certain known APT group, but for nationalsecurity reasons, we will not be making any specific public attribution”, theminister said.

He pledged to do his utmost to strengthen the cyber-security defences, yetsaying that another attack is likely to take place. However, it could nothamper Singapore’s efforts to become a “smart country” applying advancedtechnologies in daily activities and transactions.

TheSingHealth cyber-attack occurred from June 27 to July 4, and specifically andrepeatedly targeted the health records of Singaporean Prime Minister Lee HsienLoong. In the process, the personal particulars of 1.5 million patients wereaccessed and copied.

Health care data is hackers’ special interest as it can be used to blackmailpeople, said Jeff Middleton, chief executive of cyber-security consultancyLantium.

Meanwhile, Sanjay Aurora, Asia Pacific managing director of Daktrace, acyber-security firm, said that medical information can be easily monetised oncriminal forums.-VNA