Zero Trust way for Small and Medium-size Enterprises

Keynote FutureCIO.Tech (19 Oct 20) reported Singapore SMEs fast tracking cloud adoption during COVID19 pandemic. 62% of SMEs shifted their business operations online to the cloud. Highest increase from 30% among markets surveyed in 2019. According to IndSights Research on Cloud Adoption in Singapore (13 Aug 20), 31% of ICT businesses in Singapore were fully on cloud infrastructure with 46% on hybrid models and 23% on traditional infrastructure. Thus, it is essential that they go online safely. Cyber Security Agency of Singapore (CSA) aims to help them by ‘Enabling a Safer Cyberspace’ in Singapore: (1) secure digital infrastructure, devices and applications that power our digital economy (2) safeguard our cyberspace activities and (3) empower our cyber-savvy population for a healthy digital way of life. One of the initiatives is that CSA funded an innovation by Singaporean vendors to develop an integrated solution that implemented CSA’s 2017 ‘Be Safe Online’ Top 6 Essentials in a Zero Trust concept: Asset-Based Cyber Defence (ABCD). The Zero Trust extends from the endpoints to the cloud. Oracle has agreed to work with the ‘ABCD Alliance’ to power ABCD in Oracle Cloud (OCI). The presentation aims to explain the Asset-Based Cyber Defence Zero Trust way for SMEss. ABCD Zero Trust is “first Verify then Trust and continue to Verify the Trust”. The Oracle-powered ABCD should also be available to all within the ASEAN region to raise the cybersecurity posture of ASEAN digital economy. To attract more Singapore entities to sign-up for ABCD, the ABCD MSSP has extended its services to cover CSA’s SG Cyber Marks so entities that subscribe to ABCD will also qualify for the SG Cyber Essential Mark.