Microsoft launches cybercrime centre here
PUBLISHED ONFebruary 18, 2015 1:11 AMByLester Hio
A new centre will keep track of online threats and help maintain Singapore's cyber security through intelligence sharing and working with partners.
Launched yesterday, the Microsoft Cybercrime Satellite Centre in Singapore serves as an extension to the tech giant's main cybercrime centre in the United States.
This satellite centre will track cyberthreats such as malicious computer software, or malware, in the Asia-Pacific region and share the data with global cyber-security agencies.
The centre will also work with government agencies, law enforcement, Internet service providers and other industry partners in Singapore and the region to share intelligence on cyberthreats. These include the Interpol Global Complex for Innovation, the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore and the Singapore Computer Emergency Response Team.
Located in the Microsoft technological centre at One Marina Boulevard, it is one of five satellite centres set up globally - in cities such as Berlin, Beijing and Tokyo - to monitor and identify cyberthreats around the world.
As a financial hub, Singapore must be especially careful of cyberthreats involving financial fraud, which are on the rise, said Keshav Dhakad, regional director of the digital-crimes unit for Microsoft Asia.
"The infection pattern we are seeing a lot more of in Singapore is malware that performs identity theft, privacy invasion and financial fraud," he said.
This vulnerability was echoed by Second Minister for Home Affairs S. Iswaran, who noted that greater private-public cooperation is needed to combat the ever-changing sophistication of cyber criminals and cyberthreats.
lesterh@sph.com.sg
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