SINGAPORE: A new study has shown how businesses are concerned with cybersecurity issues, with almost nine out of ten respondents (87 per cent) saying they intend to increase their investment toward protective measures.
In comparison, the same study from software company KnowBe4 in 2022 showed that only 72 per cent had the same response.
The study also shows that while only 45 per cent of the “IT decision makers” who took part in the study in 2022 expressed concern over phishing, this number has grown to 51 per cent over the past year over concerns of it holding a significant risk to companies.
The percentage of respondents to said they are worried about BEC (Business Email Compromise), meanwhile, is almost 40 per cent, according to KnowBe4’s latest report.
However, the number of Singaporean IT decision-makers who believe that the employees in their organisations understand the impact of companies falling victim to a cyber-attack has been getting smaller and smaller, from 54 per cent in 2021, to 47 per cent in 2022 and 45 per cent in the latest study.
The number of businesses confident their employees can identify phishing and BEC emails is around two out of five (38 per cent), and around the same number of workers file a report over all the emails they deem suspicious.
“As one of the most interconnected countries in the world, Singapore is a prominent target for cyber-attacks and cyber-crime. The planned increase in cyber spend demonstrates that protecting organisations remains a high priority for Singaporean IT professionals.
As the nation accelerates its digitisation efforts, there is a heightened sense of urgency to shield organisations from evolving cyber threats,” says David Bochsler, VP of sales for APAC at KnowBe4.
As for the respondents who said they plan on investing in cybersecurity this year, 64 per cent said they would spend on a cybersecurity awareness training program with ongoing and relevant content, while 61 per cent said they would invest in new cybersecurity software solutions.
Over half, or 55 per cent, said they’d put money into cybersecurity-related employee policy changes.
Meanwhile, half of the respondents said they’d purchase cybersecurity insurance, and 49 percent said they would invest in simulated phishing and social engineering for end users.
Forty-five per cent said they would spend on further investment in infrastructure.
Mr Bochsler added, ”With an emphasis on spending cybersecurity funds on security awareness training, it is clear that employees’ behaviour is a major concern when it comes to cybersecurity risk.
There is no one-stop solution for cyber protection. Rather, organizations should focus their efforts on ultimately creating a strong security culture.”
Interestingly, only 42 per cent of the respondents said they would know what to do following a cyber incident or data breach in their organisation.
“It is key for organisations throughout Singapore to adopt a holistic approach that includes building a resilient human firewall through effective training and awareness programmes,” Mr Bochsler said. /TISG