Singapore faces “serious” cyberattacks, the minister says

Singapore has announced it is fighting “serious” cyberattacks with critical infrastructure, and spies whose experts have linked it to China.

A kind of advanced permanent threat (APT), this attack poses serious danger to city-states.

Apt refers to a cyberattack in which an intruder establishes and maintains unauthorized access to a target, and remains undetected for a long period of time.

“You can say it’s serious and continuous. And it’s been identified as UNC3886,” he said.

Shanmugam, who is also the Minister of Home Affairs, did not elaborate on the group’s sponsorship or the origins of the attack.

However, Google-owned cybersecurity company Mandiant described UNC3886 as “a very skilled Chinese and Nexus cyberspy group.”

APT actors usually steal sensitive information and disrupt important services such as health care, communications, water, transportation and electricity, Minister Shanmugham said.

“If that’s successful, it can be espionage and create a huge disruption for Singaporeans and Singaporeans,” he added.

For example, successful violations of Singapore’s electricity system can have knock-on effects on critical services such as healthcare and transportation, leading to havoc in electricity supply.

“There are also economic impacts. Banks, airports, and industries cannot operate. Our economy can be effectively affected,” he said.

Between 2021 and 2024, APT suspicions against Singapore have increased more than four times.

The 2018 cyber violation of the Public Health Cluster accessed medication records for approximately 160,000 patients, including then-Prime Minister Lee Heen Long.

On Saturday, the Chinese Embassy in Singapore expressed “strong dissatisfaction” over media reports linking UNC3886 to China.

In a statement, the embassy said it was “sturdy against China’s unfair coloring,” and said “in fact, China is one of the main victims of cyberattacks.”

“China will firmly oppose and crack down on any form of cyberattack in accordance with the law. China does not encourage, support or tolerate hacking activities,” the statement added.

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.

“The struggle against such stealthy enemies is becoming increasingly tough as the scale and complexity of the infrastructure that organizations and nations must defend continues to grow,” he said.

©2025 AFP