In June, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced that government agencies and businesses were facing a cyberattack campaign from a “sophisticated state-based actor.” Citing the example of a cyberattack campaign in Australia, RSIS Research Fellow Muhammad Faizal Abdul Rahman pointed out in a commentary that COVID-19 could not convince geopolitical rivals to put aside their differences and act in solidarity against an elusive common foe. Those caught in the middle of geopolitical tensions, especially smaller states, must prepare for a more contested cyberspace, he added.

…Muhammad Faizal Abdul Rahman is a Research Fellow with the Centre of Excellence for National Security, a unit of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies.