SINGAPORE: Political parties in Singapore have been advised by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore (CSA) and the Elections Department about the threat of foreign interference in elections and cybersecurity risks.
The advisories have been published on the Elections Department website, said the authorities in a media release on Monday (Apr 20).
AdvertisementAdvertisementCiting examples of foreign interference during elections in other countries - such as the US presidential elections in 2016 and French presidential elections in 2017 - MHA said that "Singapore is not immune".
"We need to guard against such nefarious activity as we head towards our own General Election (GE), which must be held by April 2021," the ministry added.
"Singapore politics should be decided by Singaporeans alone."
The MHA advisory includes information such as the methods used by "foreign actors", including countries, agencies or people, to interfere in elections.
AdvertisementAdvertisement"The objective of foreign actors interfering in elections is to shape the voting
behaviour of the electorate in a manner consistent with the desired political outcomes
of the foreign actor," said the ministry.
Examples of foreign interference include disinformation, the creation of fake online identities, the funding of political parties' campaigns by foreign actors, as well as the cultivation of political entities.
The advisory also reminded political parties to enhance their understanding of the threats, improve the digital literacy of their members, and be alert to suspicious behaviours and hidden agendas.
GUARDING AGAINST CYBERSECURITY RISKS
As a "highly digitally-connected nation", Singapore also needs to also "guard against opportunistic attempts to disrupt our election processes, to cast doubts on the integrity of our GE, and attack the credibility of our government", said the release.
"Political parties and candidates are responsible for their own cybersecurity, and need to strengthen their cybersecurity posture, and take precautionary measures to protect their assets and online presence," said CSA in its advisory.
This includes all IT infrastructure including any smartphone, computer and computing device, online and social media assets, as well as data storage and management.
The agency warned against potential cyber threats, including website defacement, ransomware attacks and data breaches.
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