Singapore attracts cyber espionage as host of high-profile global events

Cyberespionage is taking place all over the world and Singapore -- being one of the hubs for hosting high-profile trade exhibitions and conferences -- "inevitably" attracts intelligence operations, a report said on Friday.

"Cyberespionage is happening all over the world because we are more connected than ever before," said Dr Alan Chong, senior fellow at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies.

Chong's comments came after Russian media earlier this month leaked a recording of a German military phone call that Berlin said was due to a participant dialling in through an "unauthorised connection" from a Singapore hotel during the February Singapore Airshow.

"In terms of the geopolitical location of Singapore, to me it's no surprise. Since the Cold War, long before the digital age, we were already a base of operations for both the Communist and the Western powers," Channel News Asia quoted Chong as saying.

Intelligence operations around the world will happen more frequently as cyberespionage makes remote spy activity possible even without an agent on site, he said.

The report said event organisers and hotels have confirmed providing security support -- ranging from coordinating with telcos to conducting sweeps for surveillance devices.

The German participant was in Singapore to attend the Singapore Airshow.

The February event would have been a "field day" for Russian intelligence and hotels where the attendees stayed would have been targeted by "widespread wiretapping efforts", German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said.

In the leaked call, discussions were held on support for Ukraine against Russia's invasion, including the possible delivery of the long-range Taurus cruise missiles to Kyiv.