Singapore firms see high rate of security incidents, but struggle to respond promptly

2 years ago 153

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A higher number of organisations in Singapore are experiencing at least six cybersecurity incidents in the past year, compared to their counterparts across 10 other global markets. However, just 49% in the Asian nation are able to respond to a threat within 24 hours, compared to the global average of 70%.

Some 65% of organisations in Singapore saw at least six security incidents, which was the highest amongst the 11 markets surveyed in a study commissioned by Infoblox that polled 100 respondents in the country. Globally, 46% of organisations encountered at least six security incidents.

Conducted by CyberRisk Alliance's Business Intelligence Unit, the survey had a total of 1,100 respondents from markets that also included Australia, Germany, the US, and UK.

In Singapore, 73% said cybersecurity incidents led to an actual breach, compared to 34% across the globe that saw at least one breach. Some 45% pointed to a cloud application or infrastructure as the source of a breach, while 42% cited an IoT device or network and 32% blamed an employee-owned endpoint device.

Globally, 32% said their organisation's security breaches originated from Wi-Fi access points while 29% pointed to a cloud application or infrastructure. Another 29% cited an employee-owned endpoint device and 25% blamed a third-party or supply chain services provider.

As a result of breaches, 57% in Singapore said hackers exposed sensitive data, while 53% suffered system outages or downtime and 43% had to deal with malware infections.

The survey also found that 33% incurred losses--direct and indirect--of up to $1 million due to a security breach. Globally, this figure was a higher 43%, with respondents highlighting the associated cost of operating amidst the pandemic where more sensitive data had to be shared via multiple channels.

Asked about challenges they faced safeguarding their network against attacks, 33% globally pointed to monitoring remote work access and 28% noted a lack of budget. In Singapore, 32% cited poor network visibility, while 32% highlighted a shortage of security skills and 28% faced budget restraints.

Data leakage was the top cybersecurity concern for 51% of companies in Singapore, while 42% were anxious about remote connections and 35% felt the same about networked IoT attacks. Some 29% also expressed concerns about attacks through cloud services.

Worldwide, data leakage also was the top concern for 49% of respondents, followed by ransomware at 39% and attacks via remote connections at 36%.

To cope with the threat landscape, 73% in Singapore said their organisation had increased their IT security budgets last year, with another 69% expecting this upward trend to continue this year. Globally, 71% expected their IT security budgets to increase this year.

Some 28% in Singapore said they would invest in DNS security, while 26% said likewise for network security tools. Another 37% would pump funds into data encryption and 36% were opting for cloud access security brokers.

Some 60% currently tapped DNS controls as part of their cybersecurity strategy to block and flag malicious traffic and devices. Another 61% had implemented SASE (secure access service edge) infrastructures, with 29% indicating plans to do likewise.