ADVISORY TO ELECTION CANDIDATES ABOUT FOREIGN INTERFERENCE AND CYBERSECURITY RISKS

The Ministry of Home Affairs, the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore and the Elections Department would like to advise election candidates about foreign interference and cybersecurity risks during the General Election.

Foreign Interference in Elections

2. Foreign interference includes attempts by foreign actors to manipulate domestic politics through covert and deceptive means, which undermines political sovereignty and social cohesion. The goal is to advance the foreign actor’s own interests. In the last few years, there have been many reports of alleged foreign interference in the elections of other countries, such as the Moldovan Presidential Election (2024), Romanian Presidential Election (2024), and French Presidential Election (2017).

3. Singapore is not immune to such risks. The outcome of Singapore’s elections must be for Singaporeans alone to decide. We should safeguard the integrity of our electoral processes.

4. The Elections Department’s webpage on Foreign Interference in Domestic Politics provides candidates with information on some methods used by foreign actors to interfere in elections, and the precautions that they can take to mitigate the risks of becoming a target of foreign interference, or unwittingly facilitating it.

Cybersecurity Risks

5. There have been instances of malicious cyber activity during the elections of other countries, which have affected their electorates’ confidence in the election processes. Examples of such cyber activities include the disruption of services, data theft and breaches, manipulation and misinformation, insider threats, and social engineering.

6. As a highly digitally-connected nation, Singapore must guard against attempts to disrupt the processes of, or to cast doubts on the integrity of our General Election. The Advisory on Cybersecurity for General Elections 2025 for Political Parties and Candidates provides candidates with information on potential cyber threats to their activities and the preventive measures they can take to mitigate the risks.

Role of Candidates in Safeguarding the Integrity of Our General Election

7. Candidates play an important role in safeguarding the integrity of the election. They should raise their level of understanding and alertness on the threat of foreign interference, and the posture they should take. They should also find out more about the precautionary measures they can take to protect their information technology infrastructure, social media accounts, as well as data. They are advised to stay vigilant by monitoring their platforms for suspicious activities and not re-share posts of suspicious origin.

8. Candidates should make a Police report immediately, and keep the Elections Department informed, if they detect or suspect foreign interference in the election, or that their account(s) or system(s) have been compromised or misused.

MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS

CYBER SECURITY AGENCY OF SINGAPORE

ELECTIONS DEPARTMENT

19 April 2025