Singapore enhances efforts against threats of technology development

The Ministry of Defence of Singapore on June 27 held a summit discussing impacts of new technologies on security and national defence, along with measures to cope with new risks brought by technology development (Illustrative photo: AFP/VNA)

Singapore (VNA) – The Ministry of Defence of Singapore on June 27 held a summit discussing impacts of new technologies on security and national defence, along with measures to cope with new risks brought by technology development.

The event attracted more than 400 government officials and industry insiders from 17 countries and territories worldwide.

Speaking at the summit, Singaporean Deputy Prime Minister and Co-ordinating Minister for National Security Teo Chee Hean stressed that even as new technologies help to address gaps in a country’s security and defence capabilities, they can create new vulnerabilities too.

The fourth industrial revolution features exciting breakthroughs, enabling countries to share information on terrorists and use biotechnology and face detection in border regions, which improves international cooperation in counterterrorism. 

However, growing digital integration and interconnection among economies bring higher concentration risk which is not just a local disruption, but potentially a system-wide global one, he noted.

Not only can cyber attacks be carried out anonymously on telecommunications, broadcasting or banking systems. Insidious attempts to interfere surreptitiously in a country's internal affairs and influence electoral outcomes have also been observed, Teo said.

In addition to traditional measures in supervision and management, he reiterated that governments, firms and the academic community need to join hands to tackle these evolving vulnerabilities.-VNA