Cybersecurity incident affected 48 mosques, four madrasahs; no ransom paid: MUIS

SINGAPORE: No ransom was paid following a cybersecurity incident involving software vendor Avelogic, the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (MUIS) said on Thursday (Sep 17).The incident, first reported on Tuesday, affected Avelogic's human resources and payroll system and clients across different sectors. In the community sector, this included 48 mosques, four madrasahs, the Islamic Learning Hub and Management Office and Mosque-Madrasah-Wakaf Shared Services, MUIS said.A police report was made, and Avelogic is continuing to investigate the incident and its wider impact, MUIS said.The council added that it was “concerned” about the impact on the affected organisations and their employees and that it was working with those affected to ensure salaries would continue to be paid on time."Alternative payroll arrangements are already in place, and there has been no disruption to religious or public-facing services," said MUIS.Avelogic has since recovered the affected data and engaged independent cybersecurity experts to investigate the incident.Based on investigations so far, there is no evidence that a large amount of data was taken from the system, MUIS said. Data stored in the affected system is also encrypted as an additional layer of protection.Investigations and security checks are ongoing, and the system will only resume operations after the relevant safeguards and checks have been completed."MUIS will continue to support the affected community sector organisations to ensure essential HR and payroll functions continue without disruption," the council said.