More cyber attacks the 'new reality'

DPM Teo: Singapore's vulnerability greater due to its inter-connectivity

By Leonard Lim & Tham Yuen-C, The Straits Times, 21 Mar 2012

SINGAPORE has managed to counter a few cyber espionage attacks but is likely to see more of them in the future, said Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean yesterday.

This 'new reality' is a result of technology being a 'major game-changer' to the threats of espionage and subversion, which Singapore has had to deal with since the height of the Cold War.

Today, Mr Teo said, the country's vulnerability has increased because of Singapore's inter-connectivity, the cache of classified information that can potentially be stolen through electronic media, and its heavy reliance on IT systems for essential services.

He did not give more details on who had attacked the country's systems.

But it was reported that in 2009, Singapore civil servants and foreign delegates attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) forum here had been targeted. A team of cyberterrorists launched carefully crafted attacks aimed at stealing confidential data from their computers.

Mr Teo was speaking at the 10th anniversary celebrations of the Internal Security Department (ISD) Heritage Centre in Onraet Road. It was set up in March 2002, in the aftermath of the Sept 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States.

Former president S R Nathan and MP for Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC Wong Kan Seng, a former Home Affairs minister, were among the guests at the event.

In his speech, Mr Teo, who is also Coordinating Minister for National Security and Home Affairs Minister, cited cyberspace as a factor in maintaining racial and religious harmony here.

The Internet allows users to post irresponsible, offensive and at times seditious comments about races and religions, all under the cloak of anonymity.

'Whether intended as a deliberate attack against another community or not, the end result is equally dangerous,' he said. 'The Internet enables these dangerous remarks to go viral very quickly. This can potentially spiral out of control and rapidly damage inter-communal relations. If transposed into action in the physical world, the consequences can be dire.'

Because of such concerns, the Government has embarked on programmes to build trust among different communities, he added.

He also noted Singapore is no stranger to communal violence and riots, having witnessed them in the 1960s. But the rifts have healed and the country enjoys peace and harmony because of strong social ties the different communities have built up. But he warned against complacency.

'It is tempting to think that the Singaporean identity trumps an individual's racial and religious identity,' he said. 'But recent incidents involving insensitive and offensive remarks against other religions here vividly show that the good relations we enjoy cannot be taken for granted.'

He did not mention cases but in November, a former People's Action Party youth wing member made a racist Facebook post of a picture of a bus carrying Malay kindergarten children. He apologised and quit the party. About a week later, a full-time national serviceman posted on his Facebook wall a picture of text criticising Islam. He later apologised online.



The ISD Heritage Centre opened its new Counter-terrorism Gallery yesterday. It houses case studies and exhibits from ISD investigations in the past decade since the disruption of the Jemaah Islamiah (JI) network, as well as JI artefacts previously not made public.

The local affiliate of the group, which plotted to hijack a plane and crash it into Changi Airport, continues to be a threat in the region, Mr Teo said.

He also gave out prizes to the winners of a student essay competition on the 1964 and 1969 racial riots, and said more will be done in the next two years to reach out to the young.

The centre will work with the Education Ministry to take its case studies and artefacts to all national schools, expanding on the 20 or so schools that have benefited so far from its mobile exhibitions.

Dunman High School's Yee Shen Hao, 18, who won the competition, said: 'History has now come alive for me. It's not just boring information, but these things are part of my identity.'