Emphasis on data governance required in cyber defence

IF anyone thought that the massive SingHealth data theft was an isolated incident, they were disabused of this notion with the revelation this week that the Securities Investors Association (Singapore), or Sias, had suffered a security breach way back in 2013, which leaked the data of about 70,000 members.

While the Sias breach may not have the kind of wide-ranging implications as the SingHealth heist, the very fact that it remained undetected for five years is, in many respects, just as troubling. Sias was informed of the breach by Cyber Security Agency (CSA) officials. Alarmist as it may sound, the niggling question that arises is: How many other organisations have had data breaches which they are not even aware of?

One could say with 20:20 hindsight that Sias should have paid more attention to cyber security. But as the SingHealth episode has shown, no entity is entirely safe from criminals out to steal data.