SINGAPORE: Members of the public who wish to offer recommendations on how to deal with cybersecurity attacks following the recent SingHealth data breach will be able to do so from now until Oct 31 at 5pm.

The Committee of Inquiry into the Cyber Attack on SingHealth said this in a press release on Tuesday (Sep 11) following the serious breach of personal data in late June.





The incident saw 1.5 million SingHealth patients’ records accessed and copied while 160,000 of those had their outpatient dispensed medicines’ records taken.



Members of the public are invited to submit written representations in three areas - recommending measures to enhance incident response plans, recommending ways to better protect SingHealth’s patient database system against similar attacks, and suggesting measures to reduce the risk of such cybersecurity attacks on public sector IT systems.



Those who want to share their thoughts should include their name, occupation, address, contact number and email address. They should also outline which organisation the application is being made on behalf of, if applicable, and indicate if they have any financial or other interest in the issue.



"The COI will determine whether to call any of the authors to give evidence at the hearing and if so, whom.

"The COI may also seek clarification from authors on their written representations as well as subsequently publish any written representations it receives," said the press release.

Those who submit written representations can indicate if they are willing to appear to give evidence before the COI.



The committee, chaired by retired chief district judge Richard Magnus, had already conducted its first hearing on Aug 28. It was held behind closed doors as the information presented could affect national security.

The coming hearings, between Sep 21 and Oct 5, will be a mix of private and public sessions. Details will be made known later.

Written representations should be sent to the committee’s secretary, Mr Thng E-Shen, or co-secretary, Ms Melanie Huang, at:

Ministry of Communications and Information

#05-00 Old Hill Street Police Station

140 Hill Street

Singapore 179369

Separately, members of the public who may have any concerns relating to personal data can contact the Personal Data Protection Commission, through its website at www.pdpc.gov.sg.

