SINGAPORE: About 17 per cent of over 4,500 employees clicked on phishing links in emails sent to them during a two-week exercise that was part of Exercise SG Ready, a nationwide Total Defence campaign. Jointly led by Nexus, the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) and the Singapore Business Federation (SBF), the exercise involved about 200 businesses, of which over 80 per cent were small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Nexus is an agency under MINDEF that is responsible for Total Defence and national education. From Feb 15 to Feb 28, phishing emails of various nature, including account and security alerts and internal communications, were sent to more than 4,500 employees across five business sectors: Retail, industrial, consulting and services, environmental-related, and healthcare and medical. "The exercise tracked recipient responses such as the number who opened the phishing emails, the number who clicked through the phishing links and the number of phishing emails reported," Nexus and SBF said in a joint statement on Monday (Mar 17).   KEY FINDINGS The findings from the exercise emphasise the need for organisations to review their cybersecurity response plans and readiness plans, as well as to identify and mitigate inherent risks, Nexus and SBF said. The report found that over 30 per cent of the phishing emails were opened. About 17 per cent of the recipients clicked on the phishing link. This was about 8 percentage points higher than the average global phishing rate, according to cybersecurity company Proofpoint’s 2024 State of the Phish Report. This suggests that "a significant number of employees may be susceptible to real-world phishing attacks", NEXUS and SBF said. About 5 per cent of employees reported the phishing emails, as compared with the global industry reporting rate of 18 per cent. This underscored the need for enhanced security awareness and reporting protocols, said Nexus and SBF. Large companies and SMEs are equally susceptible to phishing attacks, given that the click rates for both were closely tied. "Among the different types of phishing emails sent, those on internal communications garnered the highest click rate, suggesting that employees generally were less guarded about the authenticity of emails claiming to originate from within the organisation," added Nexus and SBF.       MORE CYBERSECURITY AWARENESS Mr Kok Ping Soon, the chief executive of SBF, said: "Cybersecurity is a major concern for businesses due to the increasing frequency and sophistication of cyberattacks, which can result in financial losses, reputation damage and legal liabilities." The exercise findings indicate that more can be done to increase the security awareness of employees, particularly those working in SMEs, he added. "We urge all businesses to prioritise security training, practise cyber hygiene and encourage a culture of vigilance among employees," he said. Senior Lieutenant Colonel Psalm Lew, director of community engagement at Nexus, said: "We are encouraged by the strong participation by businesses in this first run of the coordinated phishing exercise.  "The results underscore the importance of agencies, businesses, and communities coming together to work on a whole-of-society response to security threats through Total Defence." Nexus, MINDEF and SBF said that they will continue to work with local businesses and increase their readiness for disruptions. These efforts will include offering ongoing training and conducting follow-up exercises to reinforce best practices. "SBF is working with public and private sector partners to introduce a comprehensive suite of cybersecurity initiatives to help businesses put in place good cybersecurity practices and measures that are commensurate with their cybersecurity risk profile," it said. Aligned with the requirements of the Cyber Essentials Framework, these include programmes to help businesses understand what they need to do to mitigate the impact of a breach and actionable suggestions on how to address identified security vulnerabilities. Source: CNA/nh(mi)

SINGAPORE: At a warehouse in Tuas, thousands of pairs of donated sneakers, sandals and other footwear have accumulated in a giant pile. These shoes, collected from people across the country, were meant to be ground into granules and used in projects like running tracks and playgrounds.  But project partners are now facing an uphill battle to find places that want to use them. The programme – a collaboration between national sports agency Sport Singapore (SportSG) and materials science company Dow – began nearly four years ago with the aim of recycling 170,000 pairs of used sports shoes every year. More than 400,000 pairs of shoes have been collected in total. But only about 70,000 of them have been repurposed for 18 projects, including a jogging track atop a condominium. HOPING FOR MORE PARTNERS Mr Paul Fong, country director of Dow Singapore and Malaysia, told CNA that the shoes will not be donated or sold to other places. “We really want to reduce the impact to Semakau Island by utilising the shoes instead of discarding and landfilling them. So the main (aim) of the project is to recycle the shoes, and we hope more parties will come forward to partner us,” he said. The project currently has four other partners – B T Sports, Alba WH, Decathlon and Standard Chartered Bank.         B T Sports director Hayden Hoon noted that about 22 million pairs of shoes are purchased every year in Singapore. This meant the number of pairs collected since July 2021, when the recycling programme was launched, was “very small” in comparison, he added. "Of course, collecting this huge amount of shoes from the public – it takes up the space in the warehouse. This space could, of course, be used elsewhere if we hadn't collected the shoes,” Mr Hoon said. “But nonetheless, we believe that by doing so, we look at the bigger picture, this amount of shoes, this big profile, would have been used to fill up Pulau Semakau.” In terms of the piles of shoes at the company’s warehouse along Gul Drive, he said the firm – which specialises in manufacturing surfaces for sports facilities – is “managing it as well as we can”. “Moving forward, we would like to see more usage, and then we can start to try to use up the shoes,” Mr Hoon added. SHOES VERSUS TYRES Dow’s Mr Fong said the programme stemmed from a conversation it had with SportSG about ways to deal with shoes discarded by athletes, which would otherwise end up being incinerated or in landfills. “From the initial lab analysis, we found that the recycled shoe material has a better safety profile and also helps to save carbon footprint from the imported tyre crumbs,” he added. Singapore is a net importer of rubber tyre crumbs, which can be used for projects like playground surfacing and bike paths.  “In fact, after the initial lab analysis, we commissioned institutes of higher learning, the universities and polytechnics to help us explore the external and indoor application of this recycled shoe material,” Mr Fong said.   Still, an expert told CNA that tyres have been the go-to material for a reason. “(When using) shoe waste, it's so hard to control the quality of the final product,” said Associate Professor Duong Hai Minh from the National University of Singapore’s (NUS) Department of Mechanical Engineering. He noted that tyres are made of a single solid material, but shoes comprise different kinds of materials, making it difficult to control the quality. Recycling shoes is also more expensive. “And in terms of the performance, if you build running tracks and playgrounds from car tyre waste, it will be more consistent and durable,” Assoc Prof Duong added. Mr Hoon from B T Sports acknowledged that it is pricier to recycle shoes, but said sustainability will always be costlier. “The incumbent way of doing things is always going to be the cheaper way. That's how many businesses work,” he noted.   MANAGEMENT IS CRITICAL Experts also said future initiatives must take into account both supply and demand. Professor Lawrence Loh of the NUS Business School said the problem of the piles of shoes that currently lie untouched can be avoided in the future. "I think the most important thing is, of course, management, which includes forecasting the number of shoes you collect, and … the number of shoes you can apply in some feasible projects,” he added. “Don't over-collect, and even if you over-collect, I think there's a need for due diligence to ensure that the shoes will be applied to the purposes that donors have in mind when they actually part with their shoes for this initiative.” Source: CNA/lt(ca)

ge?

SINGAPORE – A director in the Ministry of Transport (MOT) has resigned and is set to run in the upcoming general election. Mr Foo Cexiang’s last day is April 1, The Straits Times has learnt.  The senior public servant currently oversees private and future mobility at MOT, including electric vehicle policy, and has been in the service for more than a decade.    Previously, he was MOT’s director of futures and transformation.  He spoke at the 2022 climate change conference (COP27) about Singapore’s push to encourage public transport and drive to move towards an electric ecosystem. Mr Foo, 40, started his career at JTC Corporation, and he has also had stints at the Ministry of Education looking at pre-school education and after-school care, as well as with the Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Trade and Industry.   ST has contacted him for comment.     This follows the resignation of another civil servant – deputy secretary (policy) Jasmin Lau from the Ministry of Health (MOH). Ms Lau had resigned from the role and retired from the administrative service, with her last day also on April 1. She served in MOH from 2013 to 2019, looking at healthcare finance and overseeing the development and regulation of medical and long-term care insurance in Singapore. She returned to the ministry in November 2021 after a stint at the Economic Development Board. Ms Lau oversees manpower, financing and regulatory measures in the healthcare system.  Mr Foo and Ms Lau are among the first of several resignations expected from the public service ahead of the general election, which is widely expected by mid-year after the release of the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee’s report on March 11. The PAP has traditionally tapped public service leaders when sourcing for candidates. Those who are chosen to stand often resign in the lead-up to the election, as they are not allowed to participate in political activities while in office.   In the past, public servants have quit their roles close to the start of the hustings. In the 2020 General Election, East Coast GRC MP Tan Kiat How, who was then chief executive of the Infocomm Media Development Authority, stepped down from his post on June 20. His resignation was publicly announced five days earlier. The writ of election was issued on June 23, with July 10 set as Polling Day. Mr Tan, who is now Senior Minister of State for Digital Development and Information as well as National Development, was one of the last resignations from the public service that year. Mr Desmond Tan, who used to be CEO of the People’s Association, left the public service slightly less than a month before Polling Day.

SINGAPORE: A drunk man who unzipped his pants and urinated in an MRT train was jailed for a week and fined S$2,000 (US$1,500) on Tuesday (Mar 18).  In court, the prosecution described how Meksuwan Suwapit's urine spread across the floor while the train moved, causing commuters to step on it.  Meksuwan, a 37-year-old Thai national, pleaded guilty to performing an obscene act in public and committing a public nuisance. He also admitted to a charge of appearing drunk in a public place, which was taken into consideration for his sentencing.  The court heard that on Jan 25 this year, Meksuwan, an inspection engineer, met some friends for drinks around Somerset.  He drank a bottle of red wine from around 4.30pm and boarded the train at Somerset MRT Station hours later to head home to Jurong East.  Slightly after 8pm, the drunk Meksuwan unzipped his pants and urinated in the train cabin. The train was travelling between Ang Mo Kio MRT station and Khatib MRT station at the time.  A commuter took a photo of Meksuwan in the act and later told police officers on patrol what happened.  "When some commuters saw the accused’s actions ... they were annoyed, shocked and/or disgusted. They started moving away from the accused, to avoid the accused and the puddle of urine on the floor," said Deputy Public Prosecutor Teo Lu Jia.  "Some commuters did not notice the puddle of urine and ended up stepping on it. When the train was moving, the puddle of urine also spread further on the floor, causing a mess and annoyance to the commuters." The train was intercepted at Woodlands MRT Station and Meksuwan was taken to the first aid room of the station for investigations.  He was arrested that day and charged two days later. As he was sentenced in court, Meksuwan, who was unrepresented, frequently brought his hands up in a prayer gesture to his face. His case marks the latest in a spate of public urination incidents at transport nodes.  At least three men have been said to have urinated at MRT stations in January this year.  Two of them, who relieved themselves at Outram Park MRT station and Potong Pasir MRT Station, were each fined S$2,000.  Noting the recent cases, Ms Teo said the courts needed to send a signal that such conduct could not be condoned.  "There is a need to deter such obscene, unacceptable and anti-social conduct which are unfortunately prevalent. The National Environment Agency stated that an average of 600 people were fined each year for urinating or defecating in public from 2020 to 2024," said Ms Teo.  Ms Teo sought a week's jail for Meksuwan's act of exposing himself on the train, which she said was brazen, and the maximum S$2,000 fine for the charge of public nuisance.  Agreeing with the prosecution, District Judge Salina Ishak noted that Meksuwan's private parts were clearly visible during the incident and his conduct caused annoyance and disgust to commuters in a relatively crowded train.  She imposed the sentence proposed by the prosecution.  For committing an obscene act, Meksuwan could have been jailed up to three months, fined, or both.  For the offence of public nuisance, he could have been jailed up to S$2,000. For being drunk in public and causing annoyance, he could have been jailed up to six months, fined up to S$1,000, or both. Source: CNA/wt(gr)