SINGAPORE – The personal data of about 30,000 people who have used the services of National Trades Union Congress’ Employment and Employability Institute (e2i) may have been accessed by cyber criminals.
The crooks may have had unauthorised access to people’s names, educational qualifications and NRIC, contact and employment details, according to a statement by e2i on Monday (April 5).
e2i provides skills training and job matching services for workers.
The institute said that it was alerted to a data breach incident on March 12 in which a malware had infected the mailbox of an employee of an e2i-appointed third party vendor, contact centre services firm i-vic International.
The affected mailbox contained the personal data of about 30,000 people who had used e2i’s services.
“Given the complexity of the investigations, it has taken time to make an impact assessment,” said e2i. “We have worked with the utmost urgency with the vendor to ascertain the nature and extent of personal data that has been potentially affected.”
e2i and i-vic International have taken measures to tighten the security of e-mail and network systems, and are also doing checks to monitor any potential vulnerabilities.
They are contacting potentially affected people through e-mail, SMS and phone calls to alert them about the incident and to provide them support on how to manage the potential risks involved.
e2i said those affected by the data breach should be vigilant for phishing attempts and any suspicious activities or requests.
Those who receive a suspicious e-mail, or suspect they have been targeted by a scam, can contact e2i.
They can also file an online report with the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore’s Singapore Computer Emergency Response Team at this link.
Mr Gilbert Tan, e2i’s chief executive officer, said: “We are deeply sorry for the anxiety this data incident may bring to our clients. The protection of our clients’ personal data is of utmost importance to us.”
He added that the malware did not target e2i directly but it is checking its IT systems, as well as that of its vendor.
“Amid all these measures, I would like to assure that e2i’s operations, services and systems remain unaffected and job seekers can continue to seek employment and employability assistance with e2i,” said Mr Tan.
Join ST’s Telegram channel here and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Source: Read Full Article