Cloudflare, Inc. (NYSE: NET), the leading connectivity cloud company, today released a new study focused on cybersecurity in Asia Pacific. The report, called "Navigating the New Security Landscape: Asia Pacific Cybersecurity Readiness Survey," shares the latest data on cybersecurity preparedness in the region, revealing how organisations are coping with ransomware, data breaches, and complexities brought about by Artificial Intelligence (AI).
The survey found that 85% of businesses in Thailand are concerned about AI increasing the sophistication and severity of data breaches.[1] Additionally, 63% of respondents said their organisation experienced data breaches in the past 12 months, with 44% indicating they suffered from 11 or more data breaches. The industries that experienced the most data breaches included Business and Professional Services (88%), Transport (75%), Manufacturing (67%), and Media and Telecoms (67%). Threat actors most frequently target personally identifiable information (65%), customer data (62%), and user access credentials (60%).
Ransomware remains an issue. The survey reveals that 33% of respondents in Thailand were concerned about ransomware, with compromised Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) or Virtual Private Network (VPN) servers (52%) proving to be the most common means of entry by threat actors. Among respondents whose organisations have experienced ransomware attacks, 52% said their organisations have paid ransoms within the past two years, despite 48% having issued public pledges against doing so.
"The impact of cybersecurity incidents and data breaches is long-lasting, and leaders face growing challenges with tighter regulations and shrinking resources. With complex IT environments to manage, the task has only gotten harder. Cybersecurity leaders must constantly reassess their talent, budgets, and strategies to stay ahead of ever-evolving threats and protect their organizations," said Kenneth Lai, Vice President, ASEAN at Cloudflare.
"Regulation" and "compliance" were also key themes in this year's study. The survey shows that 63% of respondents said they spend more than 5% of their IT budget to address regulatory and compliance requirements. 59% of respondents reported spending more than 10% of their work week keeping pace with industry regulatory requirements and certifications. However, this investment in regulation and compliance has had a positive impact on businesses, such as improving organisations' baseline privacy and/or security levels (69%), reputation and brand enhancements (65%), and improving integrity of organisations' technology and data (64%).
Defending against cyberattacks continues to be a priority, with 88% of respondents revealing that more than 10% of their organisation's IT budget was spent on cybersecurity.
Survey Methodology
This survey was conducted by Sandpiper Communications, on behalf of Cloudflare across a total of 3,844 cybersecurity decision-makers and leaders from small (250 to 999 employees), medium (1,000 to 2499 employees), and large (more than 2,500 employees) organisations. Respondents were drawn from a wide range of industries: Business & Professional Services; Construction & Real Estate; Education; Energy, Utilities & Natural Resources; Engineering & Automotive, Financial Services; Gaming; Government; Healthcare; IT & Technology; Manufacturing; Media & Telecoms; Retail; Transportation; Travel, Tourism & Hospitality. Respondents were based in 14 markets across Asia Pacific: Australia, China, Hong Kong SAR, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam (n=201 to 405 per country), and were surveyed online and recruited via general business panels. The survey was aimed at building a better understanding of the threat landscape facing Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) and their teams across the vast and varied territories of Asia Pacific, and the challenges they faced around paradigms like complexity, compliance and talent. The survey was conducted in June 2024.
Source: FAQ