The Cyber Security Authority (CSA) of Singapore announced that the vendors offering cybersecurity services should be licensed before carrying out their operations.

According to the latest report, they will be given up to six months of grace period for the application. They will be on the verge of being fined or jailed if they fail to do so.

CSA to Prioritize Two Service Categories For Cybersecurity Vendors

In a recent report written by ZDNet earlier this week, the new implementation that Singapore laid out will be applicable for cybersecurity vendors which serve two categories for their services.

To add, the provision includes companies that will engage in monitoring and penetration testing services. It will also cover third-party vendors and resellers of cybersecurity services that are licensed.

The government agency announced that it would take effect starting Monday, Apr. 11 in line with Singapore.s Cybersecurity Act. This time, the authorities will be prioritizing consumer protection while assuring that the service providers are serving the users' interests well.

As part of this new rule, CSA highlighted the two service categories that will be under new changes. As such, Singapore sees that these companies have access to consumers' personal information on their systems.

Related Article: Millions of Internet-Connected Devices Need to be Patched After Vulnerability Issue, Singaporean CSA Alarms

What Happens if a Cybersecurity Vendor Fails to Apply For a License

In a similar report from ZDNet, Singapore cited that if a person failed to render a cybersecurity service without a license, the individual will be imprisoned for a couple of years. There's also a possibility that he/she will pay SG$50,000 or $36,673.

For the license payment, an individual is required to pay SG$500 or $366. For the corporations or businesses, they will need to hand in SG$1,000 or $732. Moreover, the license should be effective for only two years.

For the persons or companies who will submit their applications prior to April 11, 2023, CSA noted that they will grant a 50% fee waiver for them.

With regards to improving its cybersecurity landscape in the country, Singapore's cybersecurity regulator wrote that it will continue to look forward to more trends inside and outside the industry.

The agency added that it will also explore monitoring new service categories that could be included in the future.

As of press time, CSA pointed out that it already received 29 responses which came from local and foreign markets. The industry organizations were also included in the response.

Some of the recommendations that the regulator received pertains to the license conditions. Others tackled how the agency will handle data breaches related to licenses.

To diminish the uncertainty of the licenses, CSA said that there's a need to revise the language under the license conditions.

Bilateral Discussion About Cybersecurity 

Previously, Channel News Asia reported that Singapore and the United States conducted a Cyber Dialogue which discussed operations about the policy of the agencies, as well as the operational and technical issues.

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Written by Joseph Henry