No internet for our civil servants?

> Malaysia to study Singapore’s move to separate internet from public-sector work computers

SINGAPORE: Malaysia will study the suitability of separating the internet from the work computers in its public sector, said Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Ali Hamsa.

Stressing that no policy would be made on the matter for now, he said: “If the issue concerns security, the threat should not only be looked at from the aspect of the internet but also social media.”

He said this to Bernama when asked to comment on the development in Singapore, which has started to separate the internet from the work computers of civil servants for security reasons.

“We will look at the modus operandi in Singapore first,” he added, saying that various aspects must be looked into if it is to be implemented in the public service in Malaysia.

In terms of internet abuse by civil servants, Ali said the situation was not that serious in Malaysia.

On Oct 10, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong was reported as saying that ministers, senior civil servants and half of all public agencies had started separating internet surfing from their work computers to boost the security of critical government systems.

Lee said the rest of the government agencies were on track to implement the initiative by the middle of next year.

The Straits Times reported that Singapore civil servants could still access the web via separate government computers dedicated for that purpose, or use their personal mobile devices.

But their work computers, where they accessed their e-mail, would not have Internet surfing capabilities, the report said.