GovTech’s Cyber Security Group developed Jaga PRRP to combat spam and phishing attempts targeted at the Singapore government. “Jaga” is a Malay word colloquially used to mean “watchman”. The streamlined plug-in, reporting, and assessment functions of Jaga PRRP help Singapore’s civil and public servants to highlight and escalate suspected phishing attempts, thereby hardening the government’s cyber infrastructure against social engineering attacks. Public and civil servants who receive suspicious emails are able and encouraged to report them through a plug-in. A mix of trained responders and Artificial Intelligence (AI) then assess the reported emails for malicious intent and content. The assessors then communicate their findings to the original reporters; depending on the presence of malware and/or malicious intent, the reporters are advised either to delete the email or to proceed with caution. Jaga’s newest feature leverages on AI to automatically assess and flag out emails that are identical or highly similar to previously identified and classified emails.

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• Singapore

This project is potentially replicable across any organisation that possesses or can come to possess the requisite cyber infrastructure. The project team has already developed the project’s architecture, protocol, and all relevant knowledge; all the relevant knowledge and technical expertise can potentially be transferred to any organisation that seeks to the replicate the project.

This project is extremely sustainable in that it has a negligible impact on the environment and requires minimal human and material input for operations. Because the project works exclusively with digital information, it is resource-light and has no significant environmental impact. The project also leverages on AI to process repeated instances of identical or similar spam or phishing emails, thereby mitigating the need for consistent and repetitive human input.

Jaga PRRP helps to promote information society in Singapore because it meets a fundamental and existential prerequisite of cyberinfrastructure: cybersecurity. Information society is only possible if the infrastructure undergirding it all is trusted to be secure. Ensuring the security of the Singapore government’s cybersecurity infrastructure also creates an enabling environment for the Singapore government to roll out its Smart Nation and Digital Governance plans.