Singapore – Following the past year’s high-profile cyber-attacks in Singapore, a recent report by Proofpoint revealed that more than half of Singaporean board members perceived themselves to have the lowest level of preparedness against targeted attacks.
In this report, 81% of the respondents consider their organisations unprepared, in contrast to the global figure of 53%. It also found a significant rise in the percentage of directors expressing concerns about their organisation’s susceptibility to a significant cyberattack, with 89% acknowledging the risk, compared to 66% in the previous year.
The said findings indicated that there is a lack of cyber preparedness despite increased awareness and funding. In particular, they noted the rising prevalence of phishing attacks as a significant factor contributing to this disparity.
Moreover, challenges for the boards have expanded with the emergence of threats like generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools. Given their capability to generate highly convincing phishing emails in various languages, boards are then increasingly concerned about targeted email fraud.
Meanwhile, the continuous enhancement of AI-enabled deepfake technology heightens the risk of C-suite impersonation, posing a threat to cybercrimes like account takeover and fraud.
For the upcoming year, nearly all Singaporean directors anticipate an increase in their cybersecurity budgets, aiming to bridge the gap between investments and organisational readiness.
