This paper studies the problem of adaptive sliding mode control (SMC) for discrete time-varying singular systems (DTVSSs) with deception attacks. The deception attacks that make the system unstable are modeled as an unknown nonlinear function. Firstly, some sufficient conditions for ensuring the admissibility with H ∞ performance of the system are given. Secondly, a novel method is proposed to solve the controller gain. Thirdly, to estimate the unknown parameter in upper bound of deception attacks, an adaptive SMC law is established to assure that the reachability of sliding surfaces can be achieved and the effect of deception attacks on the system is weakened. Finally, the developed method is verified by two examples.