AI-powered data breaches a growing concern for businesses in Asia Pacific

Cloudflare, Inc. released a new study focused on cybersecurity in Asia Pacific. The report, called “Navigating the New Security Landscape: Asia Pacific Cybersecurity Readiness Survey,” shares the latest data on cybersecurity preparedness in the region, revealing how organisations are coping with ransomware, data breaches, and complexities brought about by Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Data breaches on the rise: How companies are paying the price

The survey found that 41% of respondents across Asia Pacific said their organisation experienced a data breach in the past 12 months, with 47% indicating they suffered from more than 10 data breaches. Of these, the industries that experienced the most data breaches included Construction and Real Estate (56%), Travel and Tourism (51%), and Financial Services (51%). Threat actors most frequently target customer data (67%), user access credentials (58%), and financial data (55%). Furthermore, the study reveals that 87% of respondents are concerned about AI increasing the sophistication and severity of data breaches.

AI: Changing the threat landscape

While AI boosts organisational efficiency, many fear that cybercriminals will increasingly exploit this technology, with 50% of our respondents anticipating AI will be used to crack passwords or encryption codes. Additionally, 47% believe AI will enhance phishing and social engineering attacks, while 44% expect it to advance DDoS attacks. Lastly, 40% foresee AI playing a role in creating deepfakes and facilitating privacy breaches.

Facing these evolving and diverse threats, 70% of respondents report their organisations are adapting how they operate. Key areas impacted by AI include governance and regulatory compliance (40%), cybersecurity strategy (39%), and vendor engagement (36%). Cybersecurity leaders are gearing up to tackle AI-driven risks, with every respondent expecting to deploy at least one AI-related security tool or measure. Top priorities include hiring generative AI analysts (45%), investing in threat detection and response systems (40%), and enhancing SIEM systems (40%). IT vendors remain critical, as 66% of respondents have already sought AI solutions from them.

Ransomware: A rising threat in Asia Pacific

Ransomware remains a growing concern across the entire region. The study reveals that 62% of organisations hit by ransomware paid the ransom, even though 70% had publicly vowed not to. Overall, a compromised Remote Desktop Protocol or VPN server (47%) proved to be the most common means of entry by threat actors.

There are significant variations across the region, though, with organisations in India (69%), Hong Kong (67%), Malaysia (50%), and Indonesia (50%) are most likely to pay ransoms, while South Korea (19%), Japan (19%), and New Zealand (22%) are the least likely to give in to ransomware demands.

“Cybersecurity leaders face growing pressure from cyberattacks, stricter regulations, and limited resources. To protect their organisations, they must constantly assess talent, budgets, and solutions,” said Grant Bourzikas, Chief Security Officer at Cloudflare.

Rising regulatory demands: consuming time and resources

“Regulation” and “compliance” also emerged as important themes in this year’s study. The survey shows that 43% of respondents said they spend more than 5% of their IT budget to address regulatory and compliance requirements. In addition, 48% of respondents reported spending more than 10% of their work week keeping pace with industry regulatory and certification requirements. However, this investment in regulatory compliance has had a positive impact on businesses, such as improving organisation’s baseline privacy and/or security levels (59%), improving the integrity of organisation’s technology and data (57%), and improving the organisation’s reputation and brand (53%).