Every February we celebrate Total Defence Day.
In 2019, Singapore’s Ministry of Defence erected the sixth pillar of Total Defence: Digital Defence. This is because we’re increasingly reliant on the internet and we store a lot of our data in the digital realm.
A threat to our cybersecurity can have some devastating effects – just take a look at the recent hacking cases, scams and data leaks.
Unfortunately, some big-name companies in Singapore got hit by cyber attacks recently. Here’s everything that happened.
JUMBO Group Ransomware Incident
JUMBO Group is a seafood restaurant chain that has many restaurant outlets in Southeast Asia, mostly in Singapore. Some familiar names under them include Mutiara Seafood in Eunos and East Coast’s Jumbo Seafood restaurant.
However, on Thursday (23 May) in a bourse filing, the restaurant chain said that it experienced a “ransomware incident”.
A bourse filing is also known as a formal announcement by a company to the stock exchange.
The statement by JUMBO Group was signed off by their chief executive and executive director Ang Kiam Meng.
What’s ransomware?
According to The Singapore Police Force, ransomware is a type of malicious software (malware) that is “designed to encrypt files on a device until a ransom, typically in cryptocurrency, is paid to decrypt the files”.
In other words, it’s when your data is held “hostage” and a kidnapper demands payment, mainly digital payment, for you to get your data back.
No Significant Impact on JUMBO Group
The statement did not indicate exactly when the incident happen, how long the attack took place, or whether they paid the ransom to obtain their files back.
The Straits Times reported that JUMBO had conducted preliminary investigations and they couldn’t find any evidence that their data had been illegally removed.
They have since activated their business continuity plan and are working towards quick recovery. They said that “there has been no significant impact to the group’s business operations arising from the incident”.
The police, the Personal Data Protection Commission (PDPC) and Cyber Security Agency of Singapore are currently investigating the case.
Mustafa Group Data Leak
Another company that was hit by a cyberattack is Mustafa Group. This would be a familiar name if you ever pass Little India and love buying items in bulk from their mall. They also run other businesses.
First reported by The Straits Times, a cyberattacker had reportedly posted on BreachForums (a forum popular among hackers, yes, that exists) in April that they stole 180GB worth of data from Mustafa.
Cyber-security blog site Ethical Empire said that the cyberattacker under the name “GHOSTR” breached Mustafa’s databases and uncovered 3.5 million records of information.
The forum had since been shut down, but the hack uploaded the stolen files onto the forum. It included the personal information of Mustafa employees and customers, such as:
- full names,
- NRIC numbers, and
- home addresses.
Thankfully, the files have been removed.
The Straits Times said that PDPC knows what’s happening and are currently investigating. Meanwhile, a spokeswoman from Mustafa said that they are working together with external cyber-security experts and an auditor to throroughy review their IT systems.
Ethical Empire reported that “GHOSTR” is aware that the breach compromised Mustafa’s retail and financial departments, as well as their restaurants, travel services and most concerningly, visa applications.
Mustafa Group also said that while the investigations are stilll ongoing, they can’t share more information. This is echoed by JUMBO Group, too.