Business should balance business, technology priorities to ensure security: Fortinet

Only 34% of organisations have a “robust” approach to cybersecurity.

Businesses in Singapore should balance both business and technology to keep their companies safe from cybersecurity threats, Fortinet said.

Fortinet, a cybersecurity firm, cited a study by IDC in the Asia Pacific that Singapore’s risk concerns are different from the region, with systems hosting personally identifiable information at the top of the list of concerns at 38%.

Fortinet also noted that organisations “face risks and a threat landscape with attacks on all fronts,” noting that only 34% of organisations in Singapore have a robust approach to cybersecurity based on IDC’s Asia Pacific Digital Resiliency approach to cybersecurity.

“Keeping the business safe even as cybersecurity threats escalate and the organization’s attack surface expands remains the core concern of the [chief information security (CISO)] in Singapore. In view of the IDC findings, local businesses need to balance business and technology priorities to enhance the value of their security programs,” said Jess Ng, Fortinet's country manager, Singapore and Brunei.

“C-suite leaders need to work with IT teams to develop a holistic strategy which will address both parties needs of attracting and retaining the workforce and also C-suite priorities of optimizing costs, enabling business growth and improving business resilience, Stymied by the misalignment of C-suite priorities and recruitment concerns, CISOs that work with the right partners will be best able to devise the cybersecurity strategy holistically and execute a successful cybersecurity program,” Ng added.

The FortiGuard Labs Global Threat Landscape Report also said there is a significant increase in the volume and sophistication of attacks targeting individuals, organisations, and critical infrastructure during the first half of 2021.

The manufacturing, retail, and healthcare organisations in Singapore were also the most heavily targeted sectors in Singapore, whilst the technology, banking, and social networks sectors were targeted by phishing attacks.

Fortinet said organisations should adopt business and security strategies that will ensure successful and resilient operations. They recommended that businesses should ensure alignment of business and technology priorities and processes, deploy a holistic security solution, and adopt a “trust zero approach.”