Cyber Threat Poses Threat to 6% GDP of Singapore
Singapore is counted among top smart nations due to ever increased connectivity and smartphone penetration.
However, the benefit of being connected comes with a trade-off. The risk of cyber threats and cyber-crimes are more prevalent than before.
According to a joint survey by Microsoft and Frost & Sullivan, US$ 17.7 billion are at risk which is 6 % of Singapore’s total GDP.
The study titled “Understanding the Cybersecurity Threat Landscape in Asia Pacific: Securing the Modern Enterprise in a Digital World”, provides deep insights on the cost of cyber incidents in the nation and introduces to the solutions. 13, 00 businesses and IT decisions makers participated in the study. The study found that 50% companies have experienced a cyber-incident while 33% of them are not sure of the attack.
“As companies increasingly embrace the opportunities presented by the intelligent cloud and the intelligent edge, they must also embrace modern mindsets and approaches to security,” Microsoft Singapore CTO, Richard Koh, said.
Stating the reason, Mr. Koh said, “With traditional IT boundaries disappearing, cyber criminals are finding different ways to break into companies’ IT and OT assets.”
And it was followed by a solution— “If companies do not take active steps to modernise their platforms to secure identities, devices, apps and data estate, and infrastructure, they will be easy prey for cyber attacks, face the risk of significant financial loss, as well as sometimes long-term damage to customer satisfaction and market reputation — which some recent high-profile breaches have demonstrated.”
Singapore has a proactive approach to stop cyber threats with the launch of Cyber Security Agency of Singapore. The 2017 Global Cyber Security Index by the UN ranked the nation at first position. Moreover, cyber security has been declared as a top priority of the nation by Mr. Lee Hsien Loong, the PM of Singapore.
However, more can be done as attacks are getting more sophisticated than before.
