SingHealth cyber-attack in Singapore: Personal data of 1.5 million people; PM Lee stolen

Singapore, July 21: Singapore recently witnessed what its authorities said the "most serious personal data breach" as the personal information of 1.5 million people got stolen as a result of a cyber-attack on the database of SingHealth, the South-east Asian city-state's largest group of healthcare institutions.

Even Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong was not above the attack as it targeted his personal data and outpatient medication details.

Singapore's 77-year-old former prime minister and currently emeritus senior minister Goh Chok Tong also said in a Facebook post on Friday, July 20, that he too was a victim of the cyber-attack as his non-medical personal specifics with SingHealth were stolen.

Through the major operation, confidential data of 1.5 million patients were illegally breached and copied, reports said, adding that of these numbers, over 150,000 saw their dispensed medical records stolen as well.

The problem was detected when unusual activity was detected on one of SingHealth's IT databases on July 4. The authorities swung into action soon and probed it along with putting into use extra safety measures.

The activity was confirmed to be a cyber-attack on July 10 and it was said that the data were stolen between June 27 and July 4, Channel News Asia reported, adding that SingHealth lodged a police complaint in July 12.