SINGAPORE, May 18: Two researchers, including one of Indian-origin, were hit by a “phishing incident” at the National University of Singapore (NUS).
A science research fellow Prosanta Gope, who was involved in a security project funded by the Defence Ministry, was hit by a phishing incident when he clicked on a link in a phishing e-mail, which then sent out more such emails to other colleagues, a spokesperson at NUS confirmed.
“This was an isolated phishing attempt that is not related to the recent advanced persistent threat (APT) attack or global ransomware attack,” the spokesperson was quoted as saying by the Channel News Asia.
“Immediate action was taken to block access to the phishing website. The user has also changed his password and account information as a precaution. We did not find signs of malware or data loss,” the spokesperson said.
The incident comes almost a week after it was revealed that NUS and Nanyang Technological University (NTU) had suffered separate IT network breaches in April, the first sophisticated cyberattack on Singapore universities, according to local media reports.
The varsity reiterated that it takes cybersecurity and the integrity of its IT systems very seriously, and that its community receives regular advisories on good cybersecurity and information security practices, including how to spot and report phishing emails.
Earlier reports said computers of two NUS employees have been hit by hackers.
The access to the phishing website has since been blocked and passwords changed, the spokesperson said.
“The NUS community receives regular advisories on good cyber and information security practices, including how to spot and report phishing emails,” she said. (AGENCIES)
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