Singapore facing 'serious' cyberattack against its critical infrastructure

Singapore’s coordinating minister for national security said that the country is dealing with a "serious" cyberattack against its critical infrastructure by a highly sophisticated entity linked by industry experts to China. The attack, part of a sophisticated level of cyber hacks called advanced persistent threats (APTs), poses a serious danger to Singapore and could undermine national security, K. Shanmugam said in a speech.

An APT refers to a cyberattack where an intruder establishes and maintains unauthorized access to a target, remaining undetected for a sustained period of time. APT actors typically steal sensitive information and disrupt essential services, such as healthcare, telecoms, water, transport and power.

"I can say that it is serious and it is ongoing. And it has been identified to be UNC3886," he said. "If it succeeds, it can conduct espionage and it can cause major disruption to Singapore and Singaporeans.”

A successful breach of Singapore's power system, for example, could wreak havoc with the electricity supply, with knock-on effects on essential services, such as healthcare and transport.

Mandiant, a Google cybersecurity firm has pinpointed UNC3886 as a China-linked cyber espionage group involved in the attacks. Between 2021 and 2024, suspected APTs against Singapore increased more than four-fold.

Chinese embassy in Singapore expressed "strong dissatisfaction" with media reports linking UNC3886 to China.