76% of Organizations in Asia Pacific & Japan: More Can Be Done to Keep Data Safe, Per Latest Dell Technologies Research

Dell Technologies released the latest edition of its Global Data Protection Index (GDPI) Cyber Resiliency Multicloud Edition, reinforcing the importance of staying the course when it comes to protecting data in today’s digitally transformed world. Navigating the complex terrain of data protection remains a formidable challenge and demands a steadfast commitment to understanding all the risks that can threaten an organisation’s data. The latest GDPI brings into focus new insights into the heightened threat of cyberattacks, the rise of generative AI, and the ongoing expansion into multicloud environments.

Concern over cyber threats continues to grow and remain at the top of the list for causes of organisational disruption with 57% of respondents in Australia, India, Japan, South Korea and Singapore reporting a cyberattack that prevented access to data within the past 12 months. This is the highest percentage in over 5 years. The monetary impact to organisations is considerable with costs more than doubling over our last report to $1.4 million on average.

“With massive data growth, unique data mobility needs, and increased experimentations with generative AI, organisations in Asia Pacific and Japan must juggle multiple fronts to effectively protect their data,” said Lucas Salter, General Manager, Data Protection Solutions, Dell Technologies, Asia Pacific, Japan & Greater China. “In times where cyber attacks grow in frequency and sophistication, customers need a holistic data protection strategy with an integrated portfolio of solutions to improve their cyber resilience.”

This concern is well founded as 76% of organisations surveyed are worried that their existing data protection measures are unable to cope with ransomware threats. 66% are not very confident that they could reliably recover in the event of a destructive cyberattack. Yet despite these perspectives, most organisations (54%) invest more in cyber prevention than cyber recovery. The balance between prevention and recovery needs to be carefully thought through considering the reality that successful attacks are on the rise.

Another reoccurring red flag is that 83% of organisations believe that the rise in remote workers, fueled by the pandemic and still prevalent today, has increased their exposure to data loss from a cyberattack. This sentiment is also up from 76% in our last research findings.

New insights were also uncovered regarding the use and effectiveness of insurance policies to help mitigate an organisation’s financial exposure. While 95% of organisations cited the use of ransomware insurance policies, they noted that several conditions could limit coverage. For example, 59% responded that proof of best practices for cyberthreat prevention was required, 43% indicated some scenarios would void the policy and 46% pointed to the fact that payments to some entities may be restricted by law.

In the end, 88% of organisations had to pay to access their data. So, while insurance policies can be a valid component of a cyber security strategy, organisations must understand their limitations.

In response to these growing threats, organisations are not sitting still when it comes to fortifying their cyber resiliency. Several trends indicate that organisations are becoming more proactive with 50% bringing in professional services to bolster resources, 52% conducting regular cyber recovery testing and 42% having deployed a cyber vault with physical and logical separation from production data.

For the first time, the GDPI probed into the impact of generative AI on both the cyber threat landscape and future data protection requirements. 46% believe that generative AI will provide an advantage to their organisation’s cyber security posture but 89% also agree that generative AI is likely to generate large volumes of new data and increase the value of certain data types, which will need to be considered when mapping out their future data protection strategies.

While multicloud is still the preferred strategy for organisations seeking to deploy or update applications, data protection continues to be a major concern. 76% of IT decision-makers are not very confident that their organisation can protect all the data across their public clouds and 39% of organisations cite challenges over data security in public, multicloud. Continuing to increase confidence in multicloud data protection and cyber security is critical considering the majority (>55%) of respondents believe these are the most important capabilities for enabling operations.

As organisations increasingly turn to public cloud solutions, implement hybrid working models, and experiment with generative AI, the criticality of data protection is more evident than ever. Yet, securing and safeguarding digital assets is becoming a more complex challenge for many. In a landscape continuously threatened by cyberattacks, businesses need to chart a path and stay the course.

The Global Data Protection Index surveyed 1,500 IT and IT security decision makers from a wide range of public and private industries in September and October 2023 across the globe.