SINGAPORE – 19 July 2017 – Difficulty keeping up with rapidly evolving cybersecurity technologies, products and solutions is the primary barrier hindering Asia-Pacific organisations from ensuring secure cyber environments. This is according to 46 per cent of respondents across the Asia-Pacific region surveyed by Palo Alto Networks for its report, ‘The State of Cybersecurity in Asia-Pacific’, launched today.

The struggle to combat increasingly sophisticated cyberthreats and the search for appropriate solutions to address them have been underscored by the following observations based on the survey results:

• More money does not mean more and better solutions: Amongst the spectrum of cybersecurity offerings available, antivirus (69 per cent) and firewalls (67 per cent) have the highest take-up rates in the region. On the other hand, far fewer companies have adopted more advanced solutions, such as two-factor authentication (27 per cent), anti-ransomware (25 per cent) and biometrics (22 per cent). This is despite two-thirds of APAC organisations having increased cybersecurity budgets from last year, with up to 74 per cent getting sizeable budgets (5 to 15 per cent of total IT spend) dedicated to cybersecurity.
• There is a need to change the mindset towards cybersecurity: A majority of organisations in APAC (58 per cent) believe a ‘detect and respond’ approach is more important than prevention. However, this mindset towards cybersecurity might require re-evaluation, given the continued prevalence of data breaches in the region. In financial year 2016-17, 52 per cent of organisations have reported a cybersecurity breach. Furthermore, 30 per cent have reported financial losses of over US$100,000 from those breaches.
• Different markets face different challenges: Organisations in each market noted a range of challenges they faced in ensuring cybersecurity. Overall, the APAC markets surveyed were unanimous about employees’ lack of cybersecurity awareness being the topmost challenge. Risk from third-party vendors was the second most prominent concern (36 per cent). With the rapid adoption of digital technologies – especially in developing markets – migration to cloud followed as the third-biggest pain point (31 per cent). In particular, governments displayed a need to be more agile in adapting to technology trends, with updating legacy IT systems being their largest hurdle.

QUOTE

• ‘Cyberthreats are not problems you can solve simply by increasing budgets. A good approach to cybersecurity requires the buy-in of business leaders and understanding of the threat landscape so they can help design and implement more effective cybersecurity policies in order to prevent breaches. Besides ensuring that networks are adequately secured with a next-generation breach prevention-minded platform approach, organisations must also ensure that employee education is elevated to the top of their cybersecurity agenda.’
  
  - Sean Duca, vice president and regional chief security officer for Asia-Pacific, Palo Alto Networks

Learn More

• ‘The State of Cybersecurity in Asia-Pacific’ report features analysis, practical strategies and tips that can be implemented to help companies in Asia-Pacific keep up with rapidly evolving cybersecurity technologies.

Note to Editors

The survey was conducted amongst more than 500 business professionals in APAC, covering Australia, China, Hong Kong, India and Singapore markets.

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About Palo Alto Networks

Palo Alto Networks is the next-generation security company, leading a new era in cybersecurity by safely enabling applications and preventing cyber breaches for tens of thousands of organizations worldwide. Built with an innovative approach and highly differentiated cyberthreat prevention capabilities, our game-changing security platform delivers security far superior to legacy or point products, safely enables daily business operations, and protects an organization’s most valuable assets. Find out more at www.paloaltonetworks.com.

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Media contacts:
Martina Schulze-Warnecke
Senior Manager, Corporate Communications, Asia Pacific & Japan, Palo Alto Networks
+65 9295 9707
mswarnecke@paloaltonetworks.com

Neil Mirano
Rice Communications on behalf of Palo Alto Networks
+65 9838 4609
paloaltonetworks@ricecomms.com