FEATURE: CYBERSECURITY

Cybersecurity spending in Asia Pacific is rising fast but John Yang,

Vice President, APJ, Progress, says organisations still face gaps in visibility and resilience – with Network Detection and Response( NDR) becoming a critical layer in modern defence. security maturity and the sheer diversity of economies across Asia Pacific make the region particularly attractive for cybercriminals. Countries like Singapore, Japan and Australia may have advanced regulatory frameworks, but emerging economies in Southeast Asia often lack the same level of preparedness – creating regional weak spots that attackers exploit.

Yet even as organisations boost investments, many still rely on outdated defences. Traditional approaches – particularly endpoint security – are no longer sufficient. In today’ s threat landscape, resilience requires layered protection, broader visibility and smarter, faster detection.

Beyond endpoint protection

Since 2022, budgets have grown at a steady 12.8 % annually and are projected to reach US $ 52 billion by 2027. This growth reflects the increasing frequency and sophistication of cyberattacks driven by the region’ s push toward digital services, cloud adoption and hybrid networks. In Q2 last year alone, organisations faced an average of 2,510 attacks per week – a 23 % increase year-on-year.

While governments across the region have launched national cybersecurity strategies and stepped up regulations, attackers continue to find fertile ground. Factors such as rapid digitalisation, fragmented

Modern environments are more complex than ever. With cloud workloads, remote access and IoT devices in the mix, attackers have more ways to gain access – and defenders have more to keep an eye on. According to industry research, more than 70 % of Asia Pacific organisations now operate hybrid IT infrastructures, combining legacy on-premises systems with cloud services. This shift has opened new avenues for lateral movement, making visibility across east-west traffic just as important as perimeter monitoring.

The challenge is not just detecting threats but doing so without overwhelming security teams with noise. Many enterprises in Asia Pacific are already struggling with skills shortages. In Australia alone, government data predicts a shortfall of more than 30,000 cybersecurity

24 INTELLIGENTCIO APAC www. intelligentcio. com