
Kuala Lumpur, Sept 13: More than 50 per cent of Asia Pacific companies have experienced cyberattacks from unknown assets in the past.
According to a new poll by MIT Technology Review Insights, its research has shown that 70 per cent of companies report a secure cloud management strategy is key to avoiding cybersecurity attacks.
“And 67 per cent of respondents realise that continuous asset monitoring is the cornerstone of that strategy,” MIT Technology Review Insights editorial director Laurel Ruma said in a statement.
“In this new cybersecurity landscape, conducting a full inventory of internet-connected digital assets from laptops to cloud applications and rebooting cybersecurity policies for today’s modern remote work environment can mitigate risks.
“But organisations must also understand the cybersecurity trends and challenges that define their markets, many of which are unique to organisations operating in the Asia-Pacific region.”
The research is based on a multi-industry poll of more than 728 technology decision-makers across more than a dozen global industries, including information technology, telecommunications, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, health care, and retail.
It includes in-depth interviews from public- and private-sector organisations in Asia-Pacific (22 per cent), Europe (38 per cent), North America (24 per cent), and the Middle East and Africa (13 per cent).
The report noted that as companies continue to accelerate their digital transformation strategies, and more and more of their operations are being moved to cloud environments.
Cloud-based assets comprise most cybersecurity exposures and according to Palo Alto Networks research, 79 percent of observed issues come from the cloud.
“This data makes all too clear the reality of unknown or unmanaged assets are that they are a major security risk, and the only way to protect yourself is to have a complete and up-to-date inventory of all internet-facing assets,” Palo Alto Networks senior vice president of products for Cortex Tim Junio said.
He said companies urgently needed to formulate strategies to mitigate cyber-related vulnerabilities by gaining control over “shadow IT”, monitoring their inventory, developing talent that can mitigate security risks by increasing their understanding of the threat landscape and consulting the experts to solve their cybersecurity woes.

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