Cybersecurity is an important national security issue in Southeast Asia

1. z
6.53
Cybersecurity and
National Security in
Southeast Asia
Benjamin Ang
Centre of Excellence for National Security
RSIS / NTU Singapore
Twitter @benjaminang

2. z
Key Questions
What are the greatest
concerns (cyber threats)?
What are the most
important weaknesses in
cyber security?
What initiatives are being
taken by countries in SEA
to build cyber resiliency?

3. z
Cyber Threats Facing Southeast Asia
(ASEAN)
3
Benjamin Ang | Centre of Excellence for National Security | RSIS
Cybersecurity and National Security

4. z
Incidents in ASEAN 2018-2019
 Singapore
 2,400 MINDEF/ SAF personnel,
by phishing a 3rd party vendor
 Singapore
 14,200 people diagnosed with
HIV, taken by ex-lover of a doctor
with access
 Thailand and Vietnam
 Toyota customer data, no details
given
 Philippines
 82,150 customers of Wendy’s
 Philippines
 900,000 customers of pawnshop
Cebuana
 Thailand
 45,000 customers of True Corp
mobile
 Malaysia
 46 million mobile subscribers’ data
 [source: CSO Online]

5. z
APTs and their targets in Asia
APT Target countries Target entities
FunnyDream
(C)
Malaysia, Philippines,
Thailand, Vietnam
High-level government
organisations; political parties
Platinum Indonesia, Malaysia,
Vietnam
Diplomatic and government
entities
Cycldek (C) Laos, Philippines,
Thailand, Vietnam
Government, defence, and
energy sectors
HoneyMyte Myanmar, Singapore,
Vietnam
Government organisations
Finspy Indonesia, Myanmar,
Vietnam
Individuals
PhantomLance Indonesia, Malaysia,
Vietnam
Entities
Zebrocy (R) Malaysia, Thailand Entities [source: Kaspersky]
Economic and
Geopolitical
intelligence
gathering

6. z
Cybercrime in ASEAN
INTERPOL ASEAN Cybercrime
Operations Desk reported
increase in 2019
 Botnets
 Phishing
 Business email compromise
(BEC)
 Banking malware
 Ransomware
 Cryptojacking
Vulnerability is due to
 Quicker digital transactions
 Greater internet connectivity
 Growing digital economies
 Asia becoming digital asset
hub
 Lacking cybersecurity
investment
 Low awareness
Source: INTERPOL

7. z
Cybercrime has risen since the
COVID-19 Pandemic started
 Sharp increase in Cybercrime
cases in Singapore 2019-
2020
 Global increase in
 COVID-19 themed phishing
emails impersonating
government and health
authorities
 Ransomware on hospitals
0
2000
4000
6000
8000
10000
12000
14000
16000
18000
2019 2020
Cybercrime Cases
2019 2020
Source: INTERPOL, CSA and CNA

8. z
z
ASEAN targets of phishing
8
Benjamin
Ang
Cybersecurity
and
National
Security

9. z
z
ASEAN
targets of
ransomware
9

10. z
Recent developments in ASEAN that
accelerated cyber threats
Changes
 Pandemic WFH + HBL
 Pandemic forced digital
transformation
 More IOT (Smart everything)
 US-China Great Power
Competition
Impact
 More targets online
 More data on insecure
systems
 More reliance on networks
 Impact on supply chains
Benjamin Ang | Centre of Excellence for National Security | RSIS
Cybersecurity and National Security

11. zChallenges and Weaknesses in ASEAN
Differences in
Concepts
• What is Cyber:
Technology or
Information?
• What are the
core values:
Freedom? Law
and order?
Differences in
Threat Perception
• Who is a Cyber
Threat?
• Can I tolerate
their actions
(e.g., breach,
espionage)?
Differences in
Cyber Maturity
• Who is in
charge?
• What Cyber
problem do I fix
first?
• What resources
or skills do I
have?
Benjamin Ang | Centre of Excellence for National Security | RSIS
Cybersecurity and National Security

12. z
ASEAN needs cyber
capacity building
 ASEAN needs Cyberspace, because
Digital Transformation can bring
economic progress for all Member
States
 BUT Member States have different
levels of cyber maturity
 Cyber attackers will attack ASEAN
through the weakest Member States
because of high connectivity
 Role of private sector?

13. z
What ASEAN is doing
Capacity Building
 ASEAN-Singapore Cyber Centre
of Excellence (US $22 million)
 ASEAN-Japan Cybersecurity
Capacity Building Centre in
Thailand
 ADMM Cyber and Information
Centre of Excellence (ACICE) in
Singapore
 UN-Singapore Cyber Diplomacy
Training
 ASEAN-Japan Cyber Capacity
Development Projects
Joint Exercises
 ACID Drill for CERTS
 ASEAN-Japan Cyber Exercises
 Sharing cyber threat information
(between CERTS)
 Contact list
Benjamin Ang | Centre of Excellence for National Security | RSIS
Cybersecurity and National Security

14. z
What next?
14
Southeast Asian states
 Are large and growing digital
markets
 Need cyber capacity building
 Want to balance Great
Powers
Who will step in?
Benjamin Ang | Centre of Excellence for National Security | RSIS
Cybersecurity and National Security
@benjaminang