Singapore’s Ministry of Health (MOH) has called on public and private healthcare providers to strengthen their cybersecurity measures following a series of incidents involving unauthorized access to the information technology (IT) systems of six healthcare and healthcare-related entities.
MOH said in a statement on Thursday that there have been several recent cybersecurity incidents involving unauthorized access to the systems of healthcare and healthcare-related entities.
These include the Advance Care Planning IT system of the Agency for Integrated Care, and the systems of Alliance Medinet, Doctor Anywhere Group, Fullerton Health Group, Minmed Group and Dementia Singapore’s CARA mobile application.
The MOH said it is taking these incidents very seriously.
“These breaches have not disrupted patient care operations. There is no evidence thus far to suggest that patient safety and care had been compromised,
“To our knowledge, there had not been unauthorized access of patient health records in these breaches. Nevertheless, MOH is following up with the affected entities to check on the full implications from these incidents,” it said.
The entities are also working closely with the cybersecurity consultants of the affected entities, and the relevant authorities, including the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore and the Personal Data Protection Commission, to follow up on the incidents, said MOH.
MOH has also asked Synapxe and the public healthcare institutions to stay vigilant and increase the monitoring for potential cyber threats across public healthcare IT systems.
Private healthcare providers should likewise review and strengthen their cybersecurity measures to protect their systems and health information against potential cyber threats, it added.
“These incidents underscore the importance of being vigilant and despite the best of efforts, every IT system is vulnerable to the most determined attack，
”With the advancement of technology, especially AI, vulnerabilities will be easily exposed and cyberattacks more frequent, rapid and formidable,” it said.
MOH also reminds all licensed healthcare institutions and Healthcare Information Management System providers to remain vigilant, strengthen their cybersecurity posture, and ensure the security and integrity of their IT assets, systems, and patient data.
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