ENHANCING THE SECURITY OF SINGAPORE'S SUBMARINE CABLES: STRENGTHS, CHALLENGES, and OPPORTUNITIES

Submarine cables carry over 99 per cent of Singapore’s international telecommunications traffic. These submarine cables are critical to Singapore’s connectivity and play a pivotal role in fostering economic stability and upholding national security. Singapore is also one of the leading submarine cable hubs in the world. While most incidents of damage to submarine cables are accidental, recent developments such as the severance of cables serving the Matsu Islands off the coast of Taiwan as well as the cables under the Baltic Sea connecting Estonia to Finland and Sweden were suspected by some to have been deliberate, and thus have highlighted the potential for intentional acts of sabotage by state and non-state actors. There is also increasing awareness of the possibilities of cyberattacks against the network management systems that manage submarine cable systems. The importance of securing submarine cables and its associated infrastructure has risen for two key reasons: (i) the significance of Singapore’s role as a hub for communications for other regions, and (ii) the political, economic, and security ramifications should there be a disruption of communications via submarine cables.

This policy report examines Singapore’s approach to safeguarding submarine cables to mitigate potential damages or interference that may disrupt communications. It first highlights the strengths of Singapore’s current approaches and strategies to protecting this critical infrastructure. The subsequent section offers recommendations regarding specific measures that Singapore could undertake to bolster the security of submarine cables. These include strengthening criminal penalties for damage to submarine cables, explicitly designating submarine cables as critical infrastructure, enhancing cooperation and coordination between relevant government agencies, enhancing public-private partnerships, and taking the lead in driving regional cooperation on this issue.