Despite the growing threat of cybercrime on businesses around the world, most companies in Asia are confident about their resilience against online security breaches.

According to a recent report by Marsh and Microsoft on cyber preparedness of organizations, 69% of surveyed companies in the region believe their cyber risk management programme is adequate to protect them from cyberattacks.

Many of the recent cyber security breaches affected companies in the financial services sector, especially those involved in digital assets and cryptocurrencies. About US$2.2 billion of the US$3.2 billion worth of cryptocurrencies stolen in 2021 came from DeFi platforms, Chainalysis finds. That’s a 1,330% increase from the previous year.

Asian companies are more likely to be attacked by cyber criminals. About 64% of respondents in the survey reported having experienced cyberattacks in 2021, compared with 59% globally.

In terms of type of cyberattack, majority of companies in the region are fearful of privacy breaches such as loss or theft of personal data, followed by a denial of service attack.

According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), the cost of cybercrimes globally surpassed US$1 trillion in 2020, from US$544.5 billion in 2018.

While Asian-based businesses are fairly confident about their cybersecurity systems, CSIS urges companies to focus on emerging technologies and consistently evaluate their impact on their overall systems.

The report finds that 35% of Asia-based businesses evaluate the cyber risk of new technologies only when a cyberattack has occurred, double the global average of 17%.