Some said it was a bold response to the threat of online intrusions. Others said it should have been more finely calibrated. Many of those affected directly said it will make life difficult for them.

News that all public servants in Singapore will be cut off from the Internet from May next year evoked a range of reactions on the trade-off between security and efficiency.

“Digital surveillance has prompted a rethink on how governments conduct communications,” said Assistant Professor Michael Raska from the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore.

Experts pointed to a number of recent incidents that underlined the dangers of government computers being infiltrated.

Hundreds of flights had to be grounded in Sweden last year, following a cyber attack on its air traffic control system. Hackers knocked a Ukraine power station offline, plunging vast areas into darkness. The Russian government itself looked at going back to typewriters after its computers were infected with spy programs.