Deloitte has named Singapore, Japan and Australia as the nations in the Asia Pacific that are the best prepared for hack attacks.
The researchers looked at the cyber risk exposure, the size of attack surface, how frequent attacks were and how ready the different nations were in terms of the legal and policy environment.
Singapore topped the list as both the most prepared and the most exposed country in the region due to its strong legal and organisational awareness of the threat bad actors out there represents. Strong cyber legislation and high rates of R&D are also traits shared by South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan, each of which ranked high on country preparedness.
Comparatively, Vietnam experienced the highest number of attacks despite being less exposed than other nations. Deloitte noted that the lack of comprehensive legislation to deal with data security and privacy means the country is underprepared for cyberattacks.
Deloitte also noted that a fear of cyberattacks are seemingly holding back the Asia Pacific from enjoying a $145bn boost to its GDP in the next decade. As many as three in five businesses in the Asia Pacific region have put off digitalisation plans out of fear of cyberattacks.
“The challenge for policy makers is to build a comprehensive legislative framework and environment that protects businesses from cybersecurity risks whilst allowing them to innovate and maximise the potential of digital technologies,” said John O’Mahony, partner and lead author of the research from Deloitte Access Economics in Australia. “We see interest from government, business owners, and vertical experts in building a cyber smart Asia Pacific that we estimate can unlock as much as 0.7% or $145bn additional GDP growth over the next ten years.”
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