More than 200,000 subscribers to SingNet, a Singapore ISP and part of Singapore Telecommunications Ltd (SingTel), are outraged that their computers were subjected to an invasive security scan. One customer who was using an anti-hacking program picked up the scan and reported it to the police. Incredibly, the attack was traced to the Singaporean government.
SingNet says the Ministry of Home Affairs’ Information Technology Security Unit asked it to scan for viruses in the wake of the CIH epidemic. As evidence that its actions were in the public interest, the ISP points out that 900 of its subscribers’ computers turned out to be infected. The other 199,100 were presumably all clear. Ivan Tan, director of corporate communications for SingTel, told Reuters that a corporate apology had been issued and the scan suspended, but SingNet’s critics are far from being appeased.
