Cybersecurity Challenges in Asia

Despite being the wellspring for cutting-edge technology brands such as Samsung, Sony, and HTC, Asia has proven to be less adept at managing a different sort of technological challenge: cybersecurity threats. A recent Deloitte Consulting white paper identified the “Cyber Five”—the five countries whose economies had the greatest vulnerability to cyber attacks—and all of them are in the Asia-Pacific: South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and Singapore.

Experts in the cybersecurity industry can corroborate this statistical study. Bryce Boland, the Chief Technology Officer for Asia at FireEye, a network security consulting firm, explained to the Cipher Brief that firms using FireEye’s services in the Asia-Pacific region see nearly as the global average. Boland went on to say that the cause of the increased attacks is likely rooted in the heightened geopolitical tensions sweeping through the region, combined with the low risk and high reward for governments or private entities to use cyber espionage over traditional means. Boland highlights the fact that Asian firms are less likely to disclose cybersecurity breaches and this works to the detriment of other firms that could learn from the mistake.