The increasing security threats of potential leaks from e-mail and shared documents has cut off internet usage for public officers by the Singapore government. By 2017, this memo will be going out to all the government agencies, ministries, and statutory bodies to make it’s IT more secure.
Prime Minister Lee HsienLoong said, ‘The move by the Info-comm Development Authority (IDA) of Singapore to block Internet access on the computers of public officers is workable.’
The workstations will be connected to the government’s private network or intranet through which official works can be done; even they can send emails outside of the internal system. There will be alternative internet access, and the work that officers need to do will not be change, but by doing so, the professional’s job will be much secure. The public officers can use their devices such as phones and laptops to access the internet from the workplace for their work but not for the official action.
To implement this memo within one year is what government officials are sophisticated about and has experienced the severe attack and threat Government’s Internet system has been facing. And wiping out or stealing official information by hackers because of the reliance on the internet makes the government take this kind of move throughout the country.
This move of the Singapore Government even raised several questions. The restriction in internet access will affect the daily workflow of the public service officers because they need to use their separate laptops to research online and have to share website link or have to ‘copy and paste’ the links instead of clicking the ‘share’ button from the website.
Prime Minister said, “This move is nothing to do with ‘being liberal or not liberal’ but being safe and secure and doing what’s necessary to be done at the point of time.”