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Singapore cyber defenders fight simulated attacks on AI-enabled systems in 4-day exercise
It was such an experience to participate in the 3rd CIDEX exercise as part of the white team.
More technology is moving onto the cloud – meaning its data is hosted on remote servers rather than on personal devices – and integrating artificial intelligence (AI), which opens it up to new kinds of malicious attacks.
To improve Singapore’s ability to counter these emerging threats, soldiers from the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) and civilians from various agencies and key industries took part in a four-day exercise from Nov 12 to 15.
They had to identify and stop threats to a system operating on cloud and AI technology, and six other key services – power, water, gas pipelines, the 5G network, airports and the rail system.
More than 200 participants – including those from SAF’s Digital and Intelligence Service, the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore and 26 other agencies such as the Land Transport Authority, Government Technology Agency and national water agency PUB – took part in the exercise, known as the Critical Infrastructure Defence Exercise (Cidex).
During Cidex, teams were given various challenges mimicking tactics adopted by real-life cyber attackers.
They included attacks intended to disrupt operations and civilian life, such as compromising a 5G mobile network and interrupting power supply and rail operations.
This is the third edition of Cidex and the first time that simulated cloud, AI and rail systems were included. It is a response to emerging threats in cyberspace amid the increasing use of new technologies, said defence cyberchief Edward Chen.
Brigadier-General Chen added: “One of the things we have done for Cidex this year is to build a new cloud and AI test bed, so that our cyber defenders can have a first-hand understanding of these systems, to be able to identify new things, for example, cloud vulnerabilities, as well as AI-centric threats like prompt injection attacks.”
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