No matter where you do business, on the internet or in a brick and mortar marketplace, to survive and thrive, you need to embrace the latest ecommerce infrastructure.

It’s what most businesses have successfully transitioned to – but sometimes in a bit of hurry. The result? Patchy security, vulnerable applications, and a network that exposes the company to cyberattacks from even the most inexperienced hacker.

In fact, reports suggest that worldwide cybercrime costs an estimated US$600 billion a year, which is about 0.8 percent of global GDP. It’s a serious matter and smart business leaders are taking back control in order to drive their organization to a more mature state of cybersecurity.

According to a survey conducted by Limelight Networks’s State of Cyber Security 2017 – Southeast Asia report, almost 50 percent of businesses in Southeast Asia have suffered a cyberattack.  More than 70 percent of businesses also said they’d suffer financial losses if their website was hacked or if they were victims of data theft.

However, when it came to implementing cybersecurity measures, Limelight Networks found that companies faced difficulties with costs and lacked in-house expertise.

Today’s biggest cybersecurity challenges

Web infrastructure networks are the lifeblood of modern organizations, but they’re also vulnerable – and their vulnerability grows exponentially as the network grows in size. In fact, companies find it increasingly hard to manage their digital presence and touchpoints as they consider migrating to the cloud.

Data also suggests that APAC is 80 percent more likely to be targeted by hackers. In coming years, the growing speed and scope of digital transformation and the expanding sources of vulnerability from an increasing number of IoT devices will magnify cybersecurity risks even further.

In fact, according to Limelight Networks, organizations that have yet to deploy a solution found that their biggest challenge is the cost of the cybersecurity technology.

Whether it is Japan, Malaysia, or even India, there’s plenty at risk for Asian organizations:

• Japanese travel agency JTB, for example, lost data belonging to 7.93 million of its users in a cyberattack in 2016. Last year, information about 46.2 million cellphone accounts was stolen, affecting 31.2 million of its inhabitants – you read that right.
• This year, several attacks proved that the Indian government is struggling to keep its database of a billion-plus biometric AADHAAR IDs safe, protecting its network against Man in the Middle (MitM) attacks and other vulnerabilities.

On-premise cybersecurity solutions, independently, aren’t scalable enough to handle a large attack against a distributed website or web application. Cloud solutions, on the other hand, are built to scale, deploy, and maintain.

Based on almost two decades of implementation and maintenance experience with top-tier enterprise clients, Limelight Networks recommends cloud-based cybersecurity solutions as they don’t require software updates, or upgrades to maintain effectiveness against the latest cyber-attacks. They’re also more cost effective than on-premise technologies.

Some of the common cybersecurity challenges that companies face today include distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks, web app security lapses, theft of content, attack by malicious bots, and the struggle to protect the firm and manage access to its networks while optimizing performance.

Safeguarding your business, one step at a time

If you’ve been thinking about investing in cybersecurity solutions for your business, DDoS and web application security are definitely among your top priorities.

Limelight Networks’s solutions help you protect your web apps effectively and ensure you’re well-secured against DDoS attacks.

Its cloud security services provide effective web application firewall protection and real-time alerts. In fact, it’s the ideal cloud cybersecurity solution for businesses looking for a one-stop solution that covers different needs from different businesses:

Limelight Networks’s massive global content delivery network (CDN) boasts of built-in capabilities to absorb traffic flooding, defending your infrastructure against malicious traffic; its SSL connectivity between CDN edge servers delivers digital assets securely via the largest SSL global footprint available; the company’s web application firewall even offers active mitigation of layer seven DDoS attacks including good bot/bad bot detection and enhanced protection with custom rules per web application.

Obviously, the company offers a lot more in terms of features when it comes to protecting your digital presence, such as access control via IP address white list/black listing, and geolocation – and exploring Limelight’s services might help you benchmark other vendors when you evaluate your investment options.

The right time is now

Your business needs cybersecurity – it’s non-negotiable in today’s world.

Despite the growing threat potential in APAC, the lack of disclosure regulation creates a perception that attacks are rarer than in the U.S. or Europe, which isn’t really true.

The consequences of a hack can severely hurt your business. Limelight Networks’s study proves there’s a powerful correlation between brand integrity and cyberattacks—when attacks occur, brand reputation falters and that impacts future business.

A lot of businesses don’t think about cybersecurity implementations because they don’t know where to start. And that’s what makes them most vulnerable. If, like the study we discussed points out, you lack in-house expertise, get in touch with an expert to help you.

Limelight Networks’s solutions are the first point of reference for companies concerned by cyber security. With a strong presence in the US, India, South Korea, Singapore, and Japan, it offers in-call language support, online chat, or can be contacted by email. Don’t be the next victim of a concerted hacking attempt – you need to act today.