SINGAPORE: It has been said that cybersecurity is like an arms race, with both sides constantly evolving their weapons and defences.
On one side are the keepers of data and information, and on the other are the cyber criminals who want to steal and profit from that information.
WHAT’S THE COST?
In one of the largest data heists in history, it came to light in November that the data of 500 million customers of the Marriott hotel group had been stolen. Earlier last year, cyber criminals took the records of some 145 million customers of credit-reporting agency Equifax.
In Singapore, the information of 1.5 million healthcare patients, including those of the Prime Minister, were stolen. Separately, the records of 14,200 HIV-positive people in Singapore were also leaked online.
READ: Mikhy Brochez admits threatening Singapore Government over HIV data leak in FBI affidavit
In Bangladesh, rogue hackers in 2016 robbed the country’s central bank of US$100 million, with some of the money later traced to Sri Lanka and the Philippines.
These cases are not isolated. Cyber crimes cost businesses close to US$600 billion…
