Microsoft and the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore (CSA) are firming up their cooperation by advancing the sharing of information, analysis and intelligence on cyber threats, vulnerabilities, malicious campaigns and incidents, to build a better database of threats and vulnerabilities.
The have signed up for a multi-year collaboration that will also support joint investigations and operations to address incidents involving critical information infrastructure systems in Singapore, and to apprehend and takedown malicious infrastructure that may be used for cybercrime or digitally enabled crimes.
Further, the collaboration spans across global, regional, and national cybersecurity and will also include capacity-building in the form of joint workshops and training on Microsoft solutions.
“Such international collaborations are a key avenue to leverage collective capabilities and pursue the adoption of new technologies, including artificial intelligence that can help us combat emerging cyber threats,” said Tom Burt, Microsoft corporate VP for customer security and trust.
Singapore continues to face an increasingly complex cybersecurity landscape, where threats to digital peace have reduced trust in technology and highlighted the urgent need for improved cyber defenses at all levels.
In the Microsoft Digital Defense Report 2023, Singapore, together with its counterparts in the South China Sea, were targeted for intelligence collection.
Singapore was also one of the top 10 countries listed as victims of the cracked versions of Cobalt Strike, which was used by cybercriminals to elevate and enumerate access after compromising a victim’s system.
Amidst these challenges, defenders are being driven to innovate and collaborate more closely than ever to secure a resilient online ecosystem that can be dependent on.
Singapore was listed as one of the governments in the Asia-Pacific region that has revitalised their focus on the regulation of critical infrastructure over the last twelve months, with the nation-state advancing both critical infrastructure cybersecurity risk requirements, as well as cyber incident reporting requirements.
Apart from teaming up with ecosystem players across the public and private sector to innovate and collaborate for a secure future together, Microsoft also continues to build capacity for a skilled cyber security workforce through its Let’s Skill Up program, which offers curated learning paths to SMEs based on their employees’ needs.
To date, the nationwide initiative, together with Microsoft Learn courses, have reached over 21,000 people who have mastered new skills in data, AI, cloud computing and security.
