Singapore recently announced several cybersecurity initiatives, including guidelines for securing AI systems, a safety label for medical devices, and new legislation banning deepfakes in election advertising content. The new Guidelines and Companion Guide for Securing AI Systems aim to promote a secure by-design approach to help organizations mitigate risks in developing and deploying AI systems. The Cyber Security Agency of Singapore highlighted the vulnerabilities of AI systems to adversarial attacks and the potential for exacerbating cybersecurity risks. The guidelines cover various stages of the AI lifecycle and offer principles to implement security controls and best practices. The companion guide, developed with input from AI and cybersecurity professionals, provides practical measures and controls to protect AI systems.
Singapore also passed legislation outlawing deepfakes and digitally manipulated online election advertising content, with a focus on content that misleads or deceives the public about candidates. The law prohibits content that has been digitally manipulated to depict candidates saying or doing something they did not, if it is realistic enough to be believed by some members of the public. The legislation does not apply to benign cosmetic alterations or authorized news agencies, and the government plans to use detection tools to assess prohibited content and issue corrective directions to remove it.
In addition, Singapore launched a cybersecurity labeling scheme for medical devices, expanding a program that covers consumer IoT products. The scheme rates devices based on their level of security and applies to devices that handle personally identifiable information and clinical data. Products will be assessed based on four levels of rating, with enhanced cybersecurity requirements for higher levels. The program follows a nine-month sandbox phase during which participating medical device manufacturers tested their products and provided feedback to improve the scheme’s operational processes and requirements.