Singapore minister responds to German military call leak, says secure lines not expected ‘as a rule’
- Senior Minister of State for Defence Heng Chee How said on Tuesday that secure means of communication for foreign guests were not expected ‘as a rule’
- He was responding to a parliamentary question about a leaked recording of German military officials, one of whom was reportedly at a Singapore hotel
These protocols can include the use of encryption hardware or software, commercial secured lines or those provided by the embassy. He said the Ministry of Defence and Singapore Armed Forces officials also adopt such practices when attending meetings abroad.
“Even if a host country is to offer such means [of secured communications], it is questionable whether foreign participants are comfortable using it,” Heng added.
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One of the officials on the call was reportedly a general who stayed at a Singapore hotel during the biennial Singapore Airshow. Using the wireless internet service provided by the hotel, he had dialled into an online call on a web-conferencing platform that was suspected to be compromised.
Referring to the incident, Yio Chu Kang Single Member Constituency Member of Parliament Yip Hon Weng asked if Singapore’s reputation at hosting military events might be affected, and also sought to find out what measures are in place to safeguard Singapore’s telecommunications infrastructure during events with high-level foreign dignitaries.
German leak occurred after officer used unsecured line in Singapore hotel
Clarifying that his response will not refer to any specific incident, Heng said participants in international events and conferences, including those attended by military personnel and government leaders and officials, do not expect the host country to provide secured means of communications, as these are typically arranged by the participants on their end.
For the defence ministry and armed forces “we take a proactive approach to cybersecurity when we are involved in high signature events inclusive of those involving high-level foreign dignitaries, and we work closely with event organisers who remain accountable for the overall cybersecurity of these events,” Heng told parliament.
These proactive efforts include identifying an event’s digital footprint and cybersecurity risk areas, scanning the vendor websites and checking the website and commercial applications used, as well as working out cybersecurity incident escalation and reporting processes.
“If vulnerabilities are uncovered through these checks, event organisers would be required to resolve them before the event,” Heng said.
“Mindef [the defence ministry] and SAF [Singapore Armed Forces], however, does not cover the cybersecurity of foreign militaries’ internal [and] unilateral virtual meetings, which is outside the scope of these events.”
