Companies are also concerned that employees will commit a cybersecurity blunder
About 84% of Singaporean companies are receiving an increased number of email-based threats, according to a new report, which said it is the largest globally. The State of Email Security 2022 from Mimecast revealed the state of cybersecurity in Singapore over the past 12 months.
In the survey, which was carried out among IT and cyber security professionals, about 83% of companies were hurt by a ransomware attacked, with 52% experiencing a week or more of downtime. About 71% of companies also said they had to pay a ransom when attacked, but only 32% of those who paid managed to recover their data.
In terms of phishing attacks, the report revealed that 97% of companies have been the target of an email-related phishing attempt.
Singapore also saw the "highest increase globally across almost all email-related attacks." This includes:
Amid these cybersecurity threats, the report revealed that companies are worried about employees committing security mistakes because of the following:
Read more: Singapore's cyber-security efforts in the spotlight
"As employees continue to communicate in innovative ways, as they adapt to the future of work, there are increased security risks across email and collaboration tools," said Stanley Hsu, Regional Vice President, SEA, Mimecast, in a statement.
"The State of Email Security report found that Singapore respondents were the most concerned about employees making serious security mistakes using personal email (88%) and collaboration tools (81%)."
According to Hsu, Mimecast is "strongly positioned to support regional efforts to strengthen the defences of organisations, build resilience, and create a safe digital environment to succeed."
Hsu has just been appointed as the Regional Vice President, SEA, as the company also announced it is also establishing an office in Singapore as a regional hub as part of its ongoing expansion in the Asia-Pacific.
Hsu, who has spent more than 25 years in the cybersecurity industry and more, will be responsible for building teams to help drive the company's product revenues and enhance customer success.
Prior to Mimecast, Hsu has been a part of EMC Software Group, McAfee, Darktrace, Illumio, and among others.
"I'm excited to be a part of the Mimecast team and look forward to accelerating growth and expanding our business in a disruptive market," he said.
