Businesses in Southeast Asia at risk of costly cybercrimes — study

ACCORDING to a recent study, cybercrime is undiminished and unlikely to slow down any time soon, which means businesses around the globe must be more careful about how they run their networks and computers.

In the Asia Pacific region, cybercrime has inflicted US$171 billion in damages, nearly a third of the global total of US$544.5 billion, says a study by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and online security company McAfee.

The study found that various markets in Southeast Asia have already been used as launch pads for attacks. Either as “vulnerable hotbeds of unsecured infrastructure” where computers can be infected easily for large-scale attacks, or as well-connected hubs to initiate attacks.

A perhaps more worrying finding, revealed by a study carried out by AT Kearney, is that the top 1,000 companies in Southeast Asia potentially could be set to lose US$750 billion in market capitalization as a result of cyber attacks.

These findings highlight the fundamental need for businesses to ramp up their cybersecurity capabilities and make it one of their top priorities.

A recent McAfee report, “Winning the Game”, investigated the technology investment and skills needed to win the fight against cyber threats. The California-based cybersecurity company surveyed 300 senior security managers and 650 security professionals at large corporations.

Of those who responded, 46 percent said that in the next year, they will either struggle to manage with the increase of cyber threats or that it will be impossible to defend against them.

In addition, 24 percent of respondents reported the need to increase their IT workforce by a quarter in order to manage the threats their business are already facing.

It seems that the shortage of cybersecurity talent is a problem felt across companies, with 84 percent of respondents admitting it is a challenge to attract talent.

Could gamers be the answer to the global talent shortage?

According to the McAfee survey, three-quarters of senior managers say they would consider recruiting a gamer even if that individual had no specific cybersecurity background.

And of the respondents, 72 percent said that hiring an experienced video gamer into their IT department would be a good way to address the cybersecurity skills gap.

But why gamers? According to the study, respondents believe that gaming gives players the skills and experience which are critical to cybersecurity threat hunting. Such skills include logic, perseverance, an understanding of how to approach adversaries, and a fresh outlook compared to more traditional cybersecurity professionals.

So, if you’re an avid gamer, you might just make the perfect cybersecurity candidate to help fight against fraudsters.

 

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