Cyber-attacks Pose Major Threats to Southeast Asia
Recent cyber threats have left numerous nations in fear and anguish. Some countries are facing bigger chances of encountering cybersecurity including members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). A new report proposed that the expenditure on this cybersecurity should be raised to efficiently tackle the cyber threat.
A report presented by the global consulting firm A.T. Kearney on Tuesday analyzed that it can potentially cost the top 1,000 companies about $750 billion in market capitalization, as well as disrupts digital innovation if the funds required to tackle cyber threats in the region is not raised.
A breach of cybersecurity does not only lead to a significant loss of trust, it also churns out significant revenue to fix. By large, the market capital lost by the company is between 10 and 30 percent. The aftermath of Cyber-attacks can be outrageously overwhelming as a lot of lawsuits and regulatory fines might be involved.
Digital development in Asia has grown significantly. This development is as a result of reliable internet connectivity. According to a study, it is predicted that by 2025, the internet economy in this region would have reached $200 billion.
The chance of encountering a cyber-incident is greatly equivalent to the number of individuals utilizing the internet daily. In order to reduce this threat to the minimal, it will require massive interventions from various stakeholders. In Countries like Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam, unsecured infrastructure has made it easier for hackers to successfully perpetrate a cyber-attack launch.
Cybersecurity has churned out about 0.13 percent of countries GDP. Then again, ASEAN as an alliance just burned through 0.06 percent or $1.9 billion in total. However, the only nation recorded to spend more than the global average is Singapore.
A proffered solution provided to ASEAN was to increase the total expenditure on cybersecurity between 0.35 percent and 0.61 percent of its collective GDP or about $171 billion between 2017 and 2025.
Yuh Woei Tan, a senior director at cybersecurity company FireEye believes that the lack of strict breach laws in several of the ASEAN countries could actually be an indication of why numerous companies fail to invest in cybersecurity.
Dhanya Thakkar, managing director and vice president for the Asia Pacific at cybersecurity company Trend Micro believes that in the main time, it is imperative to investigate if the ASEAN governments are investing their resources into cybersecurity. Dhanya Thakkar when interviewed told CNBC, that the major questions to be asked are:
- Are the countries diverting their resources into right technology?
- Are they working towards solving the right problems?
A report released by The A.T. Kearney suggested that a regional structure should be created around cybersecurity, and ASEAN member state should consider working together to tackle threats. More resources should be released to support the innovative development of cybersecurity.
The A.T. Kearney report suggested that ASEAN part states cooperate all the more intently to set up a local structure around cybersecurity, share risk knowledge and address the ability lack in the business. Part states additionally need to support more innovative work into cybersecurity, the report said.
As a means to encourage joint effort in the region, substantial initiatives which will aid cybersecurity in the region are been launched. For example, Singapore launched a program which aimed at providing cybersecurity resources to members of the ASEAN in early 2016.