As Singaporean society becomes increasingly and intimately interwoven with technology, a new national security challenge may emerge which Singapore will have to contend with.

Technology brings convenience even as it exposes societies to a wide array of risks. Many national security issues Singapore may face will emanate from the fact that our lives have fused with technology. Smart phones have become an extension of our brains, our devices watch our behavior as much as we watch them, and social media influences what we believe to be true.

This technological genie can neither be put back into the bottle nor should we attempt to be Luddites and avoid progress. As such, it behooves us to be aware of the possible dangers so that we can take steps to mitigate them.

… Norman Vasu PhD is Deputy Head of the Centre of Excellence for National Security at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Benjamin Ang is Coordinator of the Cybersecurity Programme in the same Centre. This appeared earlier in TODAY.