Credit: Shownen Kang
The government in iSingapore has launched a new multi-year roadmap in collaboration with local industry to secure the city-states connectivity infrastructure.
Specifically, the new multi-year roadmap will help identify next generation cyber threats and consequently develop the solutions and capabilities needed to secure the infrastructure.
The announcement was made at the inaugural infocomm media cyber security conference by Dr Janil Puthucheary, senior minister of state for communications and information.
To develop recommendations for this initiative a new telecom cyber security strategic committee has been set up, which will help identify areas for improvement in Singapore’s telecom cyber security capabilities, and recommend strategies, policies and initiatives.
The recommendations are expected before the end of 2019.
“As we look towards deploying the next generation connectivity infrastructure to support Singapore’s Digital Economy, we will also need to be mindful of the increasingly complex and sophisticated cyber security risks that we face,” said Tan Kiat How, chief executive of IMDA.
“IMDA is partnering the industry and international thought leaders to develop a multi-year roadmap that guide our effort in systemically building a trusted, secure and resilient connectivity infrastructure."
The roadmap will also help IMDA to "strategically and systematically" invest in developing "robust cyber security capabilities" for the telecom sector.
Furthermore, two other announcements were made including the launch of the electronic Know Your Customer (eKYC) implementation guide and the launch of a public consultation on its cyber security guide for Internet of Things (IoT) systems.
The eKYC implementation guide aims to provide guidance to the industry on the management of security concerns in their deployment of eKYC solutions, and drive innovation in Singapore’s digital economy.
It also aims to make it more convenient for consumers to register for mobile services online in a trusted manner by enabling operators to digitally verify mobile services registrations securely without physical face-to-face transactions.
On the other hand, the cyber security guide for IoT systems seeks to promote best industry practices in mitigating cyber security risks for organisations looking to deploy such systems.
The guide aims to help organisations make better purchasing and deployment decisions for IoT systems by taking security designs into consideration.
IMDA also announced that they have partnered with the National University of Singapore - Centre for Quantum Technologies (CQT) to offer additional workshops and training programmes for government agencies and the industry.
These training programs will be held in the coming months to build industry capabilities in quantum technologies and Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) trials with local industry players to gain technical understanding on implementation.
