Singaporean Authorities Encourage Citizens to Embrace Mandatory 2FA Security for Online Services

Singaporean authorities have extended the deadline for citizens to enroll in two-factor authentication for SingPass, the country’s online portal for access to government services.

The introduction of 2FA security for SingPass came last summer, with government authorities seeking to simplify the registration process earlier this year. The security system lets users choose between SMS or a OneKey token as their second authentication factor, helping to boost their security as they seek to access and transmit sensitive information to government agencies online.

The Infocomm Development Authority (IDA), the government body responsible for SingPass, originally aimed to make 2FA mandatory starting July 4th, but has now instituted a more graduated process that will require users to set up 2FA within a month of logging into SingPass, starting July 5th. So far, about half of all SingPass users and 80 percent of regular users have signed up for 2FA security.

It’s yet another example of the growing popularity of multi-factor authentication security, with India’s National Stock Exchange recently announcing its own introduction of 2FA, and Google implementing a similar measure for enterprise users.

Sources: The Straits Times, Singapore Business Review