Businesses in Singapore increase cybersecurity spending amid growing cyber threats: Report

SINGAPORE: In response to the escalating cyber threats, 87% of businesses in Singapore expressed their intention to allocate funds to cybersecurity this year, a significant increase from the 72% reported in 2022, according to a survey conducted by KnowBe4.

The survey, which polled IT decision-makers in the city-state, highlighted the growing concerns around cyber threats.

Phishing emerged as the most prevalent risk for over half of the respondents in the previous year, marking an increase from 45% in 2022.

Additionally, 38% of respondents expressed concerns about business email compromise, reflecting a rise from 30% in the previous year but a slight decrease from 40% in 2021.

David Bochsler, the APAC spokesperson for KnowBe4, emphasized:

“The planned increase in cyber spend demonstrates that protecting organizations remains a high priority for Singaporean IT professionals. As the nation accelerates its digitization efforts, there is a heightened sense of urgency to shield organizations from evolving cyber threats.”

Despite the increased focus on cybersecurity, less than half of the respondents believe that employees are fully aware of the impact of a cyber-attack on their businesses.

The survey revealed that less than 40% are confident in employees’ ability to identify phishing and compromised emails, with only 40% reporting suspicious emails.

Moreover, only 42% of respondents are confident that they know the steps to take following a cyber attack or data breach in their businesses.

In response to these rising security concerns, cybersecurity awareness training programs have emerged as the most popular area of investment, with 64% of businesses prioritizing them.

This is closely followed by cybersecurity software solutions (61%) and employee policy changes related to cybersecurity (55%).

Bochsler pointed out, “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.”

The survey underscores the critical need for businesses to enhance their employees’ awareness and skills to mitigate the growing cyber threats effectively.

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