NHG, NUHS implement temporary Internet separation measures after SingHealth cyberattack
SINGAPORE — All three public healthcare clusters have implemented temporary Internet surfing separation measures as of Monday (July 23) in an effort to tighten IT security systems following the cyberattack on SingHealth earlier this month, and operations on the ground appear to be going “smoothly”.
SingHealth had completed its Internet separation last Friday, and the two other public healthcare clusters – National Healthcare Group (NHG), which serves the northern parts of the island, and National University Health System (NUHS), which serves the west – have followed suit.
In a statement from the Ministry of Health (MOH), “the move to temporarily impose ISS (Internet Surfing Separation) is part of the containment and monitoring measures implemented to further protect patient data against emerging forms of cyber threats”.
The authorities revealed last Friday that hackers had stolen data of 1.5 million patients from SingHealth’s IT systems, as well as outpatient medication records of 160,000 people — among them Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong — in the biggest and most serious cyberattack on Singapore to date.
The MOH also warned on Monday that the Internet separation, which would affect some polyclinics and community hospitals as well, could result in longer waiting times for consultations and receiving of test results, as well as delays in checking of MediSave accounts or making claims.
The public healthcare clusters were not included in the Internet surfing separation implemented on public servants last year due to these operational difficulties.
“There will be some inconvenience for patients and healthcare staff, as a result of the unavailability of some IT system connections that require the internet,” the statement added. “We seek the understanding of patients and the public as our teams work through the issues that arise on the ground.”
Senior Minister of State for Health and Transport Lam Pin Min said in a Facebook post on Monday that “ISS is not a decision that Ministry of Health, Singapore takes lightly”.
“We know that it will cause some inconvenience to patients and staff. But safeguarding the confidentiality of our patients’ data is paramount, and we need to strengthen our public healthcare IT systems against evolving cyber security threats,” he wrote.
When contacted, NHG’s group chief information officer Ho Khai Leng said Internet access within NHG facilities is still available on Wifi-enabled standalone laptops not linked to the corporate network system.
He noted that “patient care is not impacted as clinical and critical systems reside on our secured corporate IT networks”.
Meanwhile, a NUHS spokesman told TODAY that they are working with partners to boost coverage and bandwidth for Wireless@SG in their premises so that staff who require access to the Internet for daily work may do so through their mobile devices.
The NUHS spokesman added that clinical care and ground operations at NUHS institutions and facilities are “currently operating smoothly”.
When TODAY visited Clementi Polyclinic, which comes under NUHS, on Monday, patients we spoke with said they were largely unaffected by the Internet separation.
Ms Helen Tay, 48, said that “everything went smoothly” during her visit to the polyclinic, and is not concerned about the SingHealth’s data breach. “I’m not someone of any significance and there’s nothing to lose even if they get my data,” she said.
Waiting time also did not seem longer, according to Mr Seah Han Tong, 53, who said that placing his information in the NUHS database is “a risk” he will continue to take. “It would have been good if they had been more vigilant and reacted faster... (but) with everything online, you don’t really have much of a choice,” he said.
For student Aidil Assyiddiq, 19, the service at the polyclinic turned out to be faster than during his last visit, he said.
