Implications of data breach run deep, seeming ‘aloofness’ a concern
SingHealth said it is aware that a fake text message (L) has been making the rounds shortly after it announced that it would be sending a message (R) to patients affected by the healthcare group's data breach.
I refer to TODAY's article “Hackers stole data of PM Lee and 1.5 million patients in 'major cyberattack' on SingHealth” (July 20). While I am heartened by PM Lee's and the Government's commitment to improve our systems following this incident, I am concerned about the seeming aloofness about the implications of such data breach.
The Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Communications and Information stressed that the data remain unaltered, while PM Lee stated in his Facebook post that “there is nothing alarming” in his medication data.
However, while seemingly separate pieces of data may seem innocuous, they could be gathered to construct a unified picture of intelligence, which could be harmful to national and personal interests. This is dubbed the “mosaic theory of intelligence gathering” and is a method used by intelligence analysts.
Many, if not all, Singaporeans rely on digitised systems for their everyday lives and are bound to have their data stored on various systems. Some of our data may also be publicly available online. All of these data could be aggregated to form profiles or identities of each person.
Therefore, even though no medication data has been tampered with and certain medication data may not be highly secretive in itself, there is still reason for caution, especially if they have been copied.
I cannot share the same confidence as PM Lee has, until the Committee of Inquiry has thoroughly investigated and concludes that SingHealth truly did put in their best efforts.
With the growing prevalence of cyberattacks, we should also think carefully about the types and amount of data collected and stored, especially with the new surveillance schemes that the Government is intending to roll out, such as installing smart lamp posts and more closed-circuit television cameras to catch smokers.
More information collection and storage may not always be beneficial, since there may be a loss of privacy and potential data breaches.
