SINGAPORE – Singapore’s biggest defence technology firm ST Engineering on Sunday (June 7) said its IT network in Singapore and its other businesses have not been compromised by a cyberattack on its US subsidiary.

The ransomware attack on the subsidiary, VT San Antonio Aerospace, led to the leakage of data, including contract details with various governments – such as Peru and Argentina – and agencies including the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Some 1.5 terabytes of data is believed to have been stolen.

ST Engineering said in a statement on Sunday that the disruption has been confined to VT San Antonio Aerospace and pledged to respond to the incident “transparently and proactively”.

“This includes deploying advanced tools to remediate the intrusion and to restore the affected systems.

“ST Engineering is also taking steps to further strengthen its overall cybersecurity architecture,” it said.

“(Our) US subsidiary has begun notifying potentially affected customers.”

A group of hackers known as the Maze group had attacked VT San Antonio Aerospace and put about 50 megabytes of leaked data on the Dark Web and public forums, according to cyber security firm Cyfirma on Saturday.

It is not known how long Maze had continuous access to the company’s network, although Cyfirma believes the subsidiary’s defences could have been breached as early as March.

The hack was discovered last Friday.

Maze is believed to have made public some of the data from its heist after VT San Antonio Aerospace refused to pay the ransom demanded.

ST Engineering on Sunday said it has taken a series of short- and long-term steps to avoid a repeat of the incursion, such as disconnecting certain systems from the network and calling in third-party forensic advisers to help in investigations “immediately”.

It has also notified law enforcement authorities and is conducting a rigorous review to make sure the rest of its data is safe.

“This cybersecurity incident is not expected to have any material impact on the consolidated net tangible assets or consolidated earnings per share of the ST Engineering Group for the current financial year,” it added.

ST Engineering is involved in highly critical aerospace, electronics, marine and land systems industries in many countries, with the Singapore Armed Forces as its top client.

Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, Temasek Holdings, holds a more than 50 per cent stake in the company.

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