Intelligent CIO APAC Issue 28 | Page 68

INTELLIGENT BRANDS // Enterprise Security

Rackspace Technology survey reveals that cybersecurity is Singapore ’ s C-suite ’ s top business concern

Rackspace Technology , a leader in end-to-end multi-cloud solutions , has announced that over half ( 72 %) of Singapore IT leaders cite cybersecurity as one of their C-suite ’ s top-three business concerns , ahead of issues such as price inflation ( 54 %), meeting compliance requirements ( 42 %) and supply chain / logistics management ( 38 %).

Out of the 150 Singapore IT leaders , despite sizable increases in their cybersecurity investment , greater board visibility and increased collaboration between the security team and the C-suite , more than half of them ( 51 %) say that they are managing cybersecurity risks from threats .
However , a large majority report being either ‘ fully-prepared ’ or ‘ somewhat prepared ’ to respond to major threats , such as recovering from cyberattacks ( 51 %) or identifying and mitigating threats and areas of concern ( 50 %).
When asked to name the top three cybersecurity challenges their organization is facing , migrating and operating apps to the cloud led the way ( 42 %), users falling for phishing attempts ( 42 %), a shortage of workers with cybersecurity skills ( 40 %). outside their four walls for guidance in this new cloud-first world .”
Cloud security leads investment priorities
Despite the economic challenges brought about by the pandemic , organizations show no sign of decreasing their investment in cybersecurity , with 89 % of survey respondents reporting that their cybersecurity budgets have increased over the past three years .
The leading recipients of this new investment are cloud-native security ( 69 %), data security ( 55 %), infrastructure detection and response ( 51 %) and consultative security services ( 44 %). According to the survey , cloud-native security is also the area where organizations are most likely to rely on an outside partner for expertise .
“ Cyberthreats are continuously evolving in today ’ s environment , including in Singapore , where visibility into security incidents across multi-cloud and hybrid environments is pertinent ,” said Sandeep Bhargava , Managing Director of Asia Pacific and Japan ( APJ ), Rackspace Technology . “ Almost 90 % of the Singapore IT leaders claimed that they need more cybersecurity budgets to defend against cyberattackers as they adopt more digital technologies .
“ In addition , 40 % of organizations are facing a shortage of workers with cybersecurity skills . To overcome the lack of resources and talent , it requires a collaborative effort across enterprises , schools and the government to train and upskill employees .”
These investments align closely with the areas where organizations perceive their greatest concentration of threats , led by network security ( 61 %), closely followed by web application attacks ( 53 %) and cloud architecture attacks ( 53 %). p
“ As more and more organizations migrate their IT infrastructure away from data centers and advance their cloud transformation initiatives , they are focusing increasing attention on how these changes can impact their security posture ,” said Karen O ’ Reilly-Smith , Chief Security Officer , Rackspace Technology .
“ As the survey results demonstrate , cybersecurity continues to be far and away the leading business concern and a major focus of IT investment , but with talent at a premium more organizations are looking
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