Singapore will isolate Government Computers from the Internet

Discussion in 'other security issues & news' started by Minimalist, Jun 13, 2016.

  1. Minimalist

    Minimalist Registered Member

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    http://securityaffairs.co/wordpress/48294/breaking-news/singapore-government-computers.html
     
  2. itman

    itman Registered Member

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    The decision has shocked to IT industry, also consider that Singapore is one of the most technological countries

    Well, it's a shock to me that this wasn't already in place. It is SOP for most U.S. gov. agencies to totally isolate internal systems and networks from the Internet.

     
  3. Minimalist

    Minimalist Registered Member

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    Is that so for public service officers also?
     
  4. itman

    itman Registered Member

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    I assumed the reference to public service officers meant all government employees. Different countries refer to their public servants using different naming conventions. In the U.S., each agency is responsible for their own hardware and software installations.

    In the U.S. Dept. of State for example, U.S. citizens that are assigned to embassies world-wide are titled Foreign Service Officers. This agency maintains three distinct and separate computer networks with one being used for classified information exclusively. As far as the super secret stuff, that is all sent encrypted using cable land lines.
     
  5. Minimalist

    Minimalist Registered Member

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    Yes I thought the same. I didn't know that in US it's SOP to remove internet from workstations of all of their employees. As it seem Singapore will remove it from all (or most) of their employees.They say it's around 100.000 systems. Employees can use their personal devices (not connected to their internal networks) to access internet or on dedicated terminals. IDK if US has such strict regulation, as I understood from your first reply.
    Some more info here: http://www.straitstimes.com/singapo...to-have-no-internet-access-from-may-next-year
     
    Last edited: Jun 14, 2016
  6. Keatah

    Keatah Registered Member

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    Why would it be so surprising, other than that it should have been done a long time ago..?
     
  7. guest

    guest Guest

    same here :D
     
  8. itman

    itman Registered Member

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    No. They don't disallow Internet access. They just restrict how you can access it. For example, one agency I know of actually installs two separate desktop systems in each employee's cubicle. One system is for Internet usage and the other is for internal network use. Total system isolation down to the hardware level.

    Also in this agency no personal PCs are allowed on the premises and all external devices won't work on any in-house PC. All file transfers between the two systems have to been done using gov. issued Ironkey USB drives. And of course, everything you do on any system is constantly monitored with any Internet communication decrypted and inspected prior to being allowed on that network.
     
  9. safeguy

    safeguy Registered Member

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