Only 12% of companies in Asia quantify their financial exposure to cyber threats, less than half the global average of 26% according to a recent study by Microsoft and Marsh. Credit: cyano66 / Getty Images Over two-thirds (69%) of security leaders in Asia are confident about their organization’s cybersecurity resilience, even as 48% also admit that there is still room for improvement, a new joint study by Microsoft and risk advisory firm Marsh has found.The Asian edition of The State of Cyber Resilience report, which had over 660 participants, including CEOs, CISOs, and risk managers, revealed that companies in Asia have experienced a far higher number of privacy breaches (28%) and denial of service attacks (21%) as compared to their global peers (18% and 14% respectively).Companies in Asia perceived privacy breaches or the loss of data as their top security concerns, while globally ransomware was observed as the biggest concern among organizations. As such, data loss is a critical concern that needs to be addressed and factored into cyberrisk management strategies, the report said. Contrary to global standards, only 58% of the respondents in Asia considered ransomware amongst their top cybersecurity concerns. Earlier this year, a report by IBM Security revealed ransomware as the top global attack type, contributing 20% to overall cyberattacks. Phishing and vulnerability exploits were found to be the top infection vectors for ransomware.Companies in Asia have a passive approach to securityThe study also found Asian organizations to have a passive approach to responding to cybersecurity incidents, focused largely on post-mortem evaluation. One in three (34%) organizations in Asia admitted to not having endpoint detection and response, a key insurance requirement. Additionally, 26% of the companies in the region have not made improvements to their devices in the past 12 months, compared to just 9% of organizations globally.More than a third (35%) of respondents in Asia evaluate a new technology for cyberrisks only when a cyberattack or incident has occurred. Also, 62% of the companies in Asia have placed a stronger emphasis on conducting a post-mortem review after an attack in the last 12 months.Asia’s highly contrasting approach has possibly led to a denial or miscalculated stance on its cybersecurity preparedness and calls for an immediate revisiting of security approaches for the region, the report pointed out.“It is worrying to see that 1 in 3 of organizations in Asia do not have endpoint detection and this would place those organizations’ potential insurability on the line. More than ever before, organizations need to place more emphasis on controls to help mitigate their cyberrisks,” said Faizal Janif, head of Asia Pacific cybersecurity advisory services at Marsh Advisory.Companies need to quantify cybersecurity risksThe study added that only 12% of companies in Asia quantify financial exposure to cyberrisk, a key metric while evaluating cyberthreats. This is the least among all geographies and less than half of the global average (26%).When questioned, 80% of respondents reported ‘lack of talent’ and 53% ‘lack of data’ to be the main reasons for such oversight. Moreover, 30% of the respondents pointed to an overall lack of cyberawareness and training in their organizations. Related content news Report suggests cybersecurity investment, board involvement linked to better shareholder returns The study by Diligent and Bitsight points to advanced security and strong risk or audit committees as good predictors of an enterprise’s financial success. By sascha _brodsky Mar 28, 2024 4 mins CSO and CISO Business Business IT Alignment brandpost Sponsored by Palo Alto Networks A Zero Trust approach for remote access in utilities is essential Infrastructure, specifically the utilities sector, must adopt a Zero Trust approach as ongoing cyberattacks by remote actors become more and more prevalent—threatening to disrupt everyday life. By Anand Oswal, senior vice president of product, network security, Palo Alto Networks Mar 28, 2024 5 mins Security news Your employees are using sensitive corporate devices for personal browsing Study shows more than 97% of employees use the same devices for work and personal activities. By Shweta Sharma Mar 28, 2024 4 mins Mobile Security news Meta sued for snooping on Snapchat users A group of advertisers is suing Meta for its Project Ghostbusters, which was allegedly started to intercept and decrypt Snapchat, YouTube, and Amazon traffic. By Sandeep Budki Mar 28, 2024 4 mins Hacking Legal Network Security PODCASTS VIDEOS RESOURCES EVENTS SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe