Prime Minister Lawrence Wong’s cabinet is not lacking in security experience by any measure. Between previous careers and ministerial portfolios, there’s almost a century’s worth of experience among them.

The problem is, that experience is highly concentrated in three members, Coordinating Minister for National Security and Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean, Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen, and Home Affairs Minister and Law Minister K Shanmugam.

These are three of the longest-serving politicians in Singapore, let alone cabinet members, and has led to the reasonable question of who comes after them, and the runway that is being made available.

The game has changed

(Before we get going, allow me to make a soundtrack recommendation for the article: here)

The focus of a previous article on the subject was squarely on “hard” security, physical security; crime, the military, and terrorism.

But there is a second, although no longer secondary consideration, of digital or cyber security.

When talking about security, particularly military and terrorism, the goal is never to go to war, or to suffer an attack in the first place.

Cybersecurity doesn’t have that luxury as attacks are all but unavoidable, and the ministry responsible for it will have their hands full.

They will need to take a digital-focused approach to a field that Singaporeans and the world are already entirely immersed in.

So when PM Wong announced that the Ministry of Communications and Information would be renamed to the Ministry of Digital Development and Information (MDDI), it highlighted the importance of the digital arena for security.

Digital Arena

As we have slowly realised over the span of the past 20 years, the nature of security threats is changing significantly.

The traditional challenges and dangers may remain, but augmented by a new digital arena.

And that digital arena has always had a feel of unreality. We talk about the difference between the real and digital world, but there is no longer that much of a functional difference.

Real money is spent in the digital realm, social media affects the psychology of people in the real world, and cyber attacks and crimes have a real, physical impact, regardless of whether it's taken seriously.

Perhaps the most famous example is that of Iran’s experience with the Stuxnet virus, which caused physical damage to its nuclear facilities, despite “only” being a computer virus.

We’re not waiting for a digital future and reality to merge, we’re already there.

Crypto, Heists, and Artificial Influencers

In February 2024, it was revealed that a Hong Kong-based bank officer had released US$25 (S$33.7) million to five different bank accounts after a Zoom call with his bank’s UK-based Chief Financial Officer and other colleagues.

These were all people he had met before, albeit with differing levels of frequency.

But it turns out that every single other person in the call was a deepfake, with both appearance and voice artificially-recreated using Artificial Intelligence.

Deepfaking is a popular avenue of effort, the act referring to using AI to create videos of real people performing actions that they never did.

Nowadays this extends to replicating people’s voices, allowing modern deepfakes to do and say things that their targets would never say.

One could use this technology to perform a heist, or use it to convince people that Lee Hsien Loong was trying to get you to trade cryptocurrency.

Now imagine it wasn’t some attempt to hock crypto at you, but to convince you, or your technologically-illiterate relative (you know who you are, but thanks for reading this) that SM Lee had said something disparaging about a neighbouring country or something racially charged.

Even those familiar with such fake creations could be fooled, given the sophistication of AI technology.

The AI danger is not coming, it's already here.

Feature creep

So when Minister for Communications and Information Josephine Teo spoke at the 2024 Committee of Supply debate about the role of MCI in fighting cyber crime and building frameworks to govern the development and use of AI, it was especially timely.

And it is notable to observe the nature of Teo’s overseas engagements, and use that as an indicator of her ministry’s scope and approach to digital concerns.

Teo has attended two World Economic Forums (popularly referred to as Davos) in a row, 2023 and 2024, urging the world to take a cooperative approach to fighting cybercrime, as well as warning that regulation of the AI space was "nascent".

Her most recent working visit at time of writing was to speak at a UN Global Roundtable on ICT Security Capacity Building.

There she said Singapore is concerned about developments in the digital space and is actively developing frameworks to combat cybercrime.

We're also looking for ways to develop future leaders in the space, as well as to take advantage of economic opportunities in the arena.

"Cybersecurity leadership goes beyond the technical aspects, as it necessitates a broad understanding of the geopolitical, social, and economic implications of cyber threats and cyber operations. 

In the face of the fast-changing cyber threat landscape, we need leaders who can guide their agencies and ministries through the complexities and technicalities of the domain."

Her ministry is attempting to set out a broad agenda to address a future in which AI forms a fundamental part of our daily lives.

God of the underworld

Teo isn't the first communications minister to be concerned with cybersecurity, and she won’t be the last.

MCI/MDDI isn’t even the only body tasked with dealing with the issue.

The Ministry of Defence has added a new branch to the Singapore Armed Forces, the Digital Intelligence Service (DIS), whose role includes ensuring Singapore’s digital defences.

On a side note, DIS shares a name with the Roman God of the Underworld, which is very cyberpunk.

But Teo is the minister at the helm when MCI/MDDI became Singapore's digital vanguard.

And that lends her a totally unique security credential that none of the other security-adjacent ministers can claim.

Also, Teo has been Second Minister for Home Affairs since 2017, so she is not unfamiliar with the more conventional aspects of security.

Any conversation Singapore has about its security will need voices that are well-versed in the potential and threats of the digital world, and can articulate them fully.

Digital first

It may feel odd to consider the communications minister at the front lines of national security, but it makes sense.

The challenge will be tough, given the rapidly-changing nature of digital threats.

But renaming the ministry is a clear sign that the PM Wong government takes digital defence seriously.

Renaming MCI to MDDI is literally putting digital first.

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Top image Josephine Teo/Facebook Top & Shahadat Rahman on Unsplash