Internet surfing separation may be kept permanent
Health Minister on measures after SingHealth breach
Studies are under way to keep Internet surfing separation (ISS) a permanent measure in some parts of public healthcare organisations following Singapore's worst breach involving the personal data of 1.5 million SingHealth patients, Parliament heard yesterday.
Health Minister Gan Kim Yong and Minister for Communications and Information S. Iswaran took turns to address 19 questions filed by MPs.
Mr Gan said: "We will study the impact of (the separation) on the ground, and determine whether we can keep it as a permanent measure, at least for some parts of our healthcare system."
After the cyber attack was discovered last month, the Ministry of Health (MOH) separated confidential data systems from the Internet across all the public healthcare clusters, for a limited period.
"We will need to develop longer-term mitigation solutions to overcome the operational issues if ISS is to stay," Mr Gan added.
Asked by MPs which systems will be affected, Mr Gan said: "Some areas such as emergency departments are more likely to be given certain rights for Internet access."
The reading of diagnostic reports from laboratories, video consultation and assessment of suspected stroke patients at the emergency department were affected after the separation was implemented across the board.
"Waiting times for consultation may also be longer as doctors may need to access references on the Internet through a separate computer," he said, responding to MPs' questions on operational delays at public hospitals and polyclinics.
Other unresolved efficiency issues include referrals to private sector partners, and submission and retrieval of results from screening systems, said Mr Gan.
The inconveniences also prompted MOH to look at alternative approaches, such as the use of virtual browsers on quarantined servers to access the Internet safely.
VIRTUAL BROWSER
MOH is piloting a virtual browser system, scheduled to be completed by the end of next month. Virtual browsers will be deployed together with advanced threat protection technologies to better fend off advanced cyber attacks.
MPs also asked whether malware still lingers in the system, and if more could be done for those whose details were stolen.
While noting that there is no such thing as a foolproof system, Mr Iswaran assured the House that every effort has been made to eliminate any risks.
Mr Iswaran also said that this is a good time to review the use of the NRIC number as the username to sign into e-government and e-banking transactions.
Mr Gan said: "We must assure ourselves, users and patients that the necessary safeguards are in place, before we proceed with wider implementation of the National Electronic Health Record.
"However, we should not reverse our direction in the use of technology in healthcare... We cannot return to the days of paper and pencil."
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