Singapore has unveiled a new plan to protect its digital sphere against cyberthreats including cybercrime - and not a moment too soon. Cybercrime and other forms of online threats, including spying and infrastructure disruption, have been on the increase globally before now. But the Covid-19 pandemic has led to both a surge in cyberthreats, and vulnerabilities to such threats, as it has driven much of human activity into cyberspace - working, learning and shopping included. When the pandemic hit, companies quickly sought to get their employees to work from home. Overnight, billions around the world became remote workers. Many had little experience doing so, or an awareness of the risks they might be opening themselves up to through this increased online activity. With home networks less secure than office ones and companies hard-put to ramp up security, office systems and data become more vulnerable to cyber attacks.

Businesses from banks to restaurants to shops moved more of their transactions online, as did government agencies. All this created opportunities for cyber criminals to strike. And they did. According to one study, large-scale digital attacks increased 273 per cent globally in the first three months of this year alone. Cyber attacks can be costly to companies and governments as incidents have shown. In June, Japanese automotive giant Honda suspended some of its car and motorcycle production after ransomware hit its internal servers, including its production systems. That same month, an American city paid a ransom of nearly US$300,000 (S$407,900) in bitcoin after a cyber attack on its computer network system.