This is my true take on the recent DBS banking problem.
When it was revealed that the cause of the DBS banking shutdown was merely a technical fault due to expired computer parts, I had nothing to say. It was human error, and since technology moves so fast nowadays something that came out a few months ago could be rendered void within the next week. However, this does alert us because the banking system is widespread across Singapore.
The major concern with incidents such as this is that instead of a mechanical fault it was the work of an opposition country, terrorist group or pranksters. Instead of the system of a single banking company going down, it could be the entire economic system of Singapore. Everything would be affected. Credit cards, ez-link cards, ATMs, online banking et cetera would all go dead. Retail outlets would be unable to operate. Stock markets would fail. The impact would be long and hard.
An even more horrific scene would be that the electronic structure of Singapore is invaded. This would cut off all electric supply to the entirety of Singapore, leading to chaos and problems occurring everywhere. It would pose major problems for security. The simplest of all mechanical faults has shown us that such a thing is possible even with today's standards of technology.
In addition, computer hacking is a crime without enemies: it is impossible to find the perpetrator. In 2007, South Korea's internet system was subject to hacking. Although the main internet network was not disrupted severely, the hacker was able to retrieve confidential government emails and information. A report on the hacking identified 86 possible IP addresses coming from 16 countries; however, their prime suspect North Korea was not amongst the list. Without any evidence, they were unable to request any country to do a detailed investigation regarding this; if they were to request that of all 16 countries, their expenditure would be way more than their loss. Anybody with a computer, internet access and sufficient computer knowledge could possibly hack into a network.
All in all, apart from our government taking extreme care when handling its internet security and reducing co-reliance on internet systems, we can also regularly change our password. This is to prevent our computers from being used as a tool to cause massive disruption, and thereby to prevent ourselves from being the framed party of hacking.
