DHAKA: Public servants in Singapore will be blocked from accessing the internet on work computers from May next year.

The moves aim to plug ‘potential leaks from work e-mails and shared documents amid heightened security threats’, the Straits Times newspaper said, reports the BBC.

Officials said employees across government would also be barred from forwarding any work-related information to personal emails.

Singaporeans have responded with shock and skepticism online.

Some people thought the move contradicted Singapore’s much-promoted Smart Nation technology initiative.

Others thought the suggestion that the measure could also apply to teachers, who do not deal with much sensitive information, was extreme.

The Straits Times said a memo was sent to all government agencies, ministries and statutory boards announcing the restrictions.

The Infocomm Development Authority (IDA), the agency in charge of the change, said it would guard against cyber-attacks and create a ‘more secure working environment’, Channel News Asia reported.

An IDA spokesperson told the BBC, ‘The Singapore Government regularly reviews our IT security to make our IT network more secure’.

‘We have started to separate internet access from the work stations of a selected group of public service officers, and will do so for the rest of the public service officers progressively over a one-year period.’

It will eventually apply to all 100,000 public service computers.

BDST: 1647 HRS, JUN 08, 2016
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