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The Star
19-07-2025
- Politics
- The Star
Singapore is facing 'serious' cyberattack, says National Security Minister K. Shanmugam
Coordinating Minister for National Security K. Shanmugam said that Singapore is facing serious threats from state-linked advanced persistent threat (APT) actors. - PHOTO: LIANHE ZAOBAO via The Straits Times/ANN SINGAPORE (AFP): Singapore announced it was battling a "serious" cyberattack against its critical infrastructure, attributing the hack to an espionage group that experts have linked to China. The attack, a kind of Advanced Persistent Threat (APT), poses a serious danger to the city-state, Coordinating Minister for National Security K. Shanmugam said in a speech late Friday. An APT refers to a cyberattack where an intruder establishes and maintains unauthorised access to a target, remaining undetected for a sustained period of time. "I can say that it is serious and it is ongoing. And it has been identified to be UNC3886," he said. Shanmugam, who is also home affairs minister, did not elaborate on the group's sponsors or the origin of the attack. But Google-owned cybersecurity firm Mandiant described UNC3886 as a "highly adept China-nexus cyber espionage group". APT actors typically steal sensitive information and disrupt essential services, such as healthcare, telecoms, water, transport and power, minister Shanmugam said. "If it succeeds, it can conduct espionage and it can cause major disruption to Singapore and Singaporeans," he added. A successful breach of Singapore's power system, for example, could wreak havoc with the electricity supply, with 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. 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. - AFP
The Star
05-05-2025
- Business
- The Star
Singapore dollar surges to 1.29 to US dollar amid Asia currency rally
The Singapore' dollar was up 0.6 per cent to 1.2922 per US dollar as at 12.07am local time. - PHOTO: SPH via The Straits Times/ANN SINGAPORE (Bloomberg): Asian currencies rallied on Monday (May 5) on hopes of a thaw in the US-China trade war and regional tariff deals with the Trump administration. Taiwan led the charge, with its currency surging as much as 5 per cent, the biggest intraday gain in over three decades, on speculation that exporters are rushing to convert their holdings of US dollars to the island's currency. The Taiwan dollar has advanced more than 10 per cent over the past month. Malaysia's ringgit advanced 1.3 per cent to its strongest since October 2024, while South Korea's won also strengthened by 1.3 per cent. Singapore's currency was up 0.6 per cent to 1.292 per US dollar as at 12.07pm local time. This brought its advance to date in 2025 to 5.3 per cent. The last time the Singapore dollar closed above the 1.29 level was in September 2024. The Japanese yen also rose 0.6 per cent against the US currency, while the Australian dollar was up 0.5 per cent. Currencies have rallied across Asia in recent weeks as the US dollar faltered on concern that US President Donald Trump's tariff war will hurt the world's largest economy. The latest surge comes after Mr Trump suggested the US may strike trade deals with some countries as soon as this week. He also signalled that his aides are having conversations with counterparts from China. 'A lot of people are thinking we've moved on from the tariff escalation phase to the de-escalation phase and likely the negotiation phase as well,' said Joey Chew, head of Asia forex research at HSBC Holdings. Given that Asian economies are very export focused, 'what we're seeing in recent weeks is FX (foreign exchange) hedging flows rather than asset reallocation flows', she said. The volume of US dollar-Taiwan dollar trades in Taipei early on May 5 jumped to the highest since the 2008 global financial crisis. Banks have been bombarded with customer inquiries over the surge, with Cathay United Bank introducing virtual queues on its online app to 'maintain system stability'. Despite the currency's gains, Taiwan's monetary authority has not been seen actively intervening in the market on May 5 to limit its strength, though it typically does so to smooth out volatility. 'Local exporters are panicking, and local lifers are under-hedged, while equity-related outflows have ceased,' said Ju Wang, head of Greater China foreign-exchange and rates at BNP Paribas in Hong Kong. 'The central bank remains the only buyer but has not been aggressively supporting the market, fueling speculation that currency valuation is part of the trade talks.' One of the reasons exporters are buying Taiwan dollars is expectations that the authorities will allow the currency to appreciate to help reach a trade deal with the US. Taiwan's government said on May 3 its negotiation team had conducted the first round of meetings with the US on May 1, though no details were released. 'The Taiwan dollar is appreciating at a faster pace than I've ever seen. Hot money is coming into Taiwan, and the central bank is allowing it,' said a senior Taiwanese financial industry executive, speaking on condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to speak to the media. The soaring Taiwan dollar has also stoked speculation that some Asian countries were prepared to strengthen their currencies to win US trade concessions. But Taiwan's central bank said on May 5 that the US had not requested the Taiwan dollar's appreciation and that the bank would continue to maintain the dollar's dynamic stability. Elsewhere, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority recently responded to weakness in the greenback by buying a record amount of dollars to defend its currency peg. Last week, speculative traders became more bearish on the dollar than at any time since September 2024, in a sign of growing reluctance among investors to hold US assets. Buying of Asian currencies intensified on May 2 on expectations that trade relations between the world's top two economies might finally improve. That was because the Chinese Commerce Ministry said it had noted senior US officials repeatedly expressing their willingness to talk to Beijing about tariffs. Looking ahead, Wall Street still expects concern over the dollar to persist despite the May 2 stronger-than-expected US jobs data. The employment report was 'a reflection of what might have been, rather than a sign of what will be', Goldman Sachs said. Morgan Stanley strategists led by Mr David S. Adams wrote in a note: 'We are bearish on the dollar as the US yield curve bull-steepens and investors continue to hedge US investments.' The firm is bullish on the euro and yen. -- BLOOMBERG
