Research Programmes at CENS
Research Publications in 2025
- Cybersecurity, Cyber Diplomacy and Critical Infrastructure
- Disinformation, Foreign Interference, and Hybrid Threats
- Social Cohesion and Online Communities
- Emerging Technologies and Security
Cybersecurity, Cyber Diplomacy, and Critical Infrastructure
Jan 2025
Cyber Diplomacy in Singapore and ASEAN
Benjamin Ang, Tan E Guang Eugene
“As a small city-state that has always been painfully aware of its diminutive size and corresponding vulnerability, Singapore views diplomacy as an essential part of national strategy.” Read more at Link
Jan 2025
Singapore (The Palgrave Handbook on Cyber Diplomacy)
Tan E Guang Eugene
“This Handbook offers a state-of-the-art overview and comprehensive analysis of the emerging field of cyber diplomacy.” Read more at Link
Feb 2025
Securing Singapore’s Undersea Cables
Asha Hemrajani
“Undersea cables play a crucial role in transcontinental telecommunications. Our dependence on undersea cables is driven by the growth of our collective digital economies and Singapore’s aim to become a regional undersea cable hub.” Read more at Link
Jun 2025
Breaking down the OEWG’s legacy: Hits, misses, and unfinished business
Eugene EG Tan, et al
“The OEWG on cybersecurity (2019–2025) shaped global debates on digital security—but did it deliver? External experts weigh in on its lasting impact, while our team, who tracked the process from day one, dissect the milestones and missed opportunities.” Read more at Link
Jul 2025
Strengthening Multilateralism in Cyber Domains
Tan E Guang Eugene
“Multilateral cooperation in cyber and information domains is needed more than ever, especially at a time when geopolitical conflicts threaten to spiral out of control.” Read more at Link
Aug 2025
The Rules of the Road in Cyberspace, 10 Years Later
Allison Pytlak, Christina Rupp, Eugene EG Tan, Dr Louise Marie Hurel, Talita Dias and Valentin Weber
“For five years, the Open-Ended Working Group (OEWG) on cybersecurity has negotiated key thematic areas which can undermine international stability. Experts following these negotiations weigh in on the progress, sticking points and future of the themes and goals of the OEWG.”
Read more at Link
Sep 2025
The CVE Funding Crisis: Implications for Singapore and ASEAN
Asha Hemrajani, Davis Zheng
“In April 2025, the US-funded MITRE Corporation, which manages a registry (called the Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) programme) of cybersecurity vulnerabilities – flaws in computer systems – that can be exploited for malicious purposes, announced that the funding for the CVE programme would cease, sparking alarm across the cybersecurity community.” Read more at Link
Dec 2025
Navigating Uncertainty in Cyber Conflict
Gil Baram and Herb Lin
“This paper examines false flag operations in cyberspace and their implications for attribution. While these operations are key to understanding cyber conflict, they are mostly understudied outside technical research.” Read more at Link
2025
Cyber Diplomacy through Official Public Attribution
Gil Baram
“International discussions on establishing and implementing norms for behavior in cyberspace have spanned over two decades. However, differences in what constitutes ‘acceptable conduct’ have hindered progress in forming these norms.” Read more at Link
Disinformation, Foreign Interference, and Hybrid Threats
Feb 2025
Battling Falsehoods on China’s Short Video Platforms
Zhang Xue
“The rapid rise of short video platforms in China has created a fertile ground for creating and spreading falsehoods. This commentary explores the nature of falsehoods on these platforms, examines existing countermeasures, and discusses the challenges, barriers, and potential solutions.” Read more at Link
Mar 2025
The Nexus of Misinformation, Disinformation and Conspiracy Theories with Violent Extremism
Gulizar Haciyakupoglu and Yasmine Wong
“The authors point to various instances of disinformation in Singapore that were meant to influence perceptions on various issues, organisations and communities. Even where disinformation does not lead to physical violence, it causes trauma and psychological harm.” Read more at Link
Apr 2025
Predictors of Misinformation Belief: Survey Evidence
Gulizar Haciyakupoglu, D.J. Flynn, Nina Wiesehomeier
“We explore the individual-level predictors of misinformation belief through surveys featuring 30 misinformation stories in four countries: Spain, Portugal, the United States, and India. Greater reliance on social media is consistently associated with misinformation belief in all countries.” Read more at Link
Jun 2025
Blocked but Not Gone: Inauthentic News Site Alamak.io
Benjamin Ang, Dymples Leong
“Inauthentic websites may appear harmless but can potentially have malicious intent. Such websites are hard to distinguish from genuine ones and can re-emerge even after being blocked, so discernment and healthy scepticism are essential to mitigate the risks of information manipulation.” Read more at Link
Aug 2025
Social Listening Tools in Disinformation Analysis
Tan E-Reng
“Social listening tools are a vital part of the disinformation and online harms researcher’s toolkit, offering both depth and breadth in the insights they provide. However, there are inherent pitfalls that come with their use.” Read more at Link
Dec 2025
Review of Anti-Misinformation/ Disinformation Measures
Zhang Xue, Dymples Leong, Sean Tan
“As misinformation/disinformation continues to proliferate across online platforms, governments and social media companies have introduced various countermeasures. Despite ongoing efforts, online falsehoods persist. This study investigated the reasons behind this anomaly through a comparative analysis.” Read more at Link
Feb 2025
Securing Singapore’s Undersea Cables
Asha Hemrajani
“Undersea cables play a crucial role in transcontinental telecommunications. Our dependence on undersea cables is driven by the growth of our collective digital economies and Singapore’s aim to become a regional undersea cable hub.” Read more at Link
Nov 2025
Europe’s Real Front Line Is Out at Sea
Sean Tan
“In Europe, debates on security continue to be dominated by questions of rearmament. However, rearmament without maritime infrastructure resilience exposes Europe to Russia’s subtle weapons.” Read more at Link
Dec 2025
Response and Resilience: Government Strategies for Securing Subsea Infrastructure in Europe and Asia
Sean Tan, Benedetta Girardi
“The study compares the threat environments and policy responses of the Netherlands and Singapore—two highly connected economies whose prosperity depends on secure and resilient critical undersea infrastructure (CUI), including internet cables, energy pipelines, and power interconnectors.” Read more at Link
Social Cohesion & Online Communities
Mar 2025
Scam Centre-Related Human Trafficking in ASEAN Countries
Asha Hemrajani
“Young people are being trafficked to work in cyber scam centres in ASEAN countries such as Myanmar, Laos, the Philippines, and Cambodia. These centres bring significant revenues to operators but harm ASEAN’s reputation and risk the growth of ASEAN economies.” Read more at Link
May 2025
The Power of Memes in India-Pakistan Conflict
Antara Chakraborthy, Yasmine Wong
“In an era where wars are fought as much with symbols as with bullets, memes have become tools of influence, contestation, and digital diplomacy. What could once be dismissed as trivial internet banter, slowly transformed into soft power in motion.” Read more at Link
Jun 2025
Gender and the 2025 Singapore Elections
Yasmine Wong
“Misogynistic attacks against women in politics remain all too common, but public awareness of the issue is growing.”
Read more at Link
Jun
2025
Strategic Currents: “Triggered” and “Mobilised” – Evolving Identities and Implications for National Cohesion and Security
Bernard F W Loo and Damien D Cheong (editors)
The book examines how Singapore’s youth face global influences leading to self-radicalisation and extremism, offering strategies to counter these risks and strengthen national resilience and social cohesion. Read more at Link
Jul 2025
Can Malaysia nudge ASEAN beyond non-interference to tackle the scam crisis in Myanmar?
Asha Hemrajani and Liu WeiYi
“ASEAN’s traditional non-interference doctrine has posed an acute challenge for the regional body in responding to the 2021 coup in Myanmar.” Read more at Link
Sep 2025
From Banal to Extreme: Breeding Grounds for Far-Right
Yasmine Wong, Antara Chakraborthy
“The recent case of a 14-year-old male Singaporean radicalised through extremist content illustrates the dangers of how seemingly benign communities and platform algorithms are pipelines for radicalisation.” Read more at Link
Nov 2025
The Interplay of Hindu Nationalism, Diaspora Politics, and Regional Security
Antara Chakraborthy
“The rise and normalisation of Hindu nationalism in India’s political landscape has far-reaching implications, as its domestic politics and diaspora become more interconnected.”
Read more at Link
Emerging Technologies and Security
Apr 2025
Will AI Enhance Decision-Making in Nuclear Weapons?
Alvin Chew, Asha Hemrajani
“AI has been integrated into nuclear weapon doctrines to facilitate efficient autonomous decision-making. While speed is often crucial in military operations, decisions to launch weapons of mass destruction, such as nuclear weapons, require deliberate human intuition and intervention that surpasses calculated assessments generated by AI.” Read more at Link
June 2025
How AI Could Boost Information Operations and Aid Terrorist Financing
Asha Hemrajani
“Artificial Intelligence (AI) is changing the way intelligence is gathered and used, affecting geopolitical tensions and terrorism. It has been reported that terrorist and violent extremist actors are leveraging AI to enhance their operations in three ways: boosting information operations, recruitment and financing.” Read more at Link
Sep 2025
The Role of AI in Modern Diplomacy
Asha Hemrajani, Rick Tan
“Artificial Intelligence (AI) is set to become a game-changer in the field of diplomacy. From crisis response to conflict prevention and resolution, AI holds significant potential to enhance core diplomatic functions. However, its limitations necessitate a cautious, human-centred approach.” Read more at Link
Oct 2025
Who’s Accountable When AI Agents Go Rogue?
Asha Hemrajani
“The rise of autonomous AI systems has revealed a new frontier in cybersecurity risk, expanding attack surfaces and blurring accountability. Safe and responsible deployment has hence become a defining cybersecurity challenge. Governance of non-human identities and adaptive, policy-driven controls to detect and contain attacks on AI models, apps, and workflows will be needed to establish trusted autonomy.” Read more at Link
