Cybersecurity Awareness Month: Experts Weigh in on Challenges, Needs, and More
From Modern Cybersecurity Approaches to Threats to Keep an Eye On, Our Experts Deliver Compelling Insights
October marks Cybersecurity Awareness Month, a global initiative that reminds individuals and organisations alike to stay vigilant in an increasingly connected world. As cyber threats evolve—ranging from sophisticated phishing campaigns to deepfake-driven misinformation—businesses, governments, and everyday users face mounting challenges in safeguarding their data and digital identities. The growing complexity of these threats underscores one key truth: cybersecurity is no longer the sole responsibility of IT teams but a collective effort that demands awareness, adaptability, and accountability across all sectors.
In this special feature, we bring together insightful commentaries from leading cybersecurity experts who share their perspectives on today’s most pressing digital risks and the strategies that can fortify our defences. From practical advice on combating ransomware to forward-looking views on AI-driven security tools, these experts shed light on what it truly takes to stay cyber-resilient in 2025 and beyond. Their voices serve as both a warning and a call to action—reminding us that awareness is the first line of defence in an era where the digital and physical worlds are more intertwined than ever.
The Need to Respond with Force and How to Do It
Chaim Mazal, Chief AI and Security Officer at Gigamon
“As adversaries weaponise AI to evade detection, security leaders must respond with equal force. The priority now is twofold: to gain real-time visibility into the growing volume of AI-driven network traffic and to establish clear governance over how AI is adopted within the enterprise. As AI workloads expand, CISOs are grappling with rising data volumes, hybrid cloud complexity, and visibility gaps that leave organisations exposed. In Singapore, these concerns are particularly evident: more than half (54%) of security and IT leaders remain hesitant to deploy AI in the public cloud, citing risks around intellectual property protection.
Many are now turning to packet-level data paired with metadata as the foundation for restoring visibility, strengthening defences, and ensuring AI tools operate on trusted information. This month is a reminder that the role of security leaders has shifted. We are now responsible for both defending against AI threats and guiding its safe, strategic use across the business.”
Simplicity and Consistency: The Foundations of Security
Wai Kit Cheah, Senior Director, Products and Solutions, APAC, at Lumen Technologies
“Cybersecurity Awareness Month reminds us that foundational safety begins with simple, consistent cyber hygiene: strong passwords, multi-factor authentication, active scam awareness, and timely software updates. However, industry data shows a critical gap. Despite rising cybersecurity awareness efforts, APAC saw a 13% jump in cyberattacks in 2024, making up 34% of all global incidents. Ransomware remains a primary driver, and malware cases linked to this often target the manufacturing sector and other industries still dependent on vulnerable legacy systems.
This trend clearly indicates that enterprises must move beyond basics. Systemic defences need strengthening: enhanced infrastructure visibility, robust identity and access controls, zero-trust architecture, and mature AI governance. Only by coupling these systemic investments with persistent cyber hygiene can organisations forge a truly proactive resilience, ready to withstand threats before they turn into crises. Ultimately, cybersecurity is a shared responsibility, requiring ownership from both individuals and organisations.”
The Challenges of Modern Cybersecurity and How to Deal with Them
Remus Lim, Senior Vice President of Asia Pacific and Japan at Cloudera
As enterprises race to harness AI and cloud innovation, cyber criminals are just as quick to exploit the complexity of siloed data, fragmented access, and inconsistent controls. Beyond just stopping ransomware or tightening firewalls, the challenge today is more about achieving visibility and control across sprawling, multi-cloud environments. According to the Singapore Cyber Landscape 2024/2025nreport, 2024 saw record-breaking Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks, with Asia accounting for 60% of global targets, demonstrating how hidden dependencies beyond an enterprise’s control widen the attack surface for cyber threats.
Resilience in this new digital landscape requires embedding governance throughout the data lifecycle. Unified visibility and zero-trust principles provide the guardrails for accountability and compliance, while automation enables enterprises to detect anomalies and enforce policies at scale. By consolidating oversight across platforms and reducing misconfigurations, enterprises are empowered to strengthen protection without sacrificing agility.
Moving forward, enterprises that integrate governance into every stage of data management will be best positioned to innovate responsibly with AI and meet increasingly stringent regulatory requirements. Ultimately, resilience is determined by how effectively we protect the data that powers our future.
Cybersecurity and the Unprecedented Pressures It Faces
Beni Sia, General Manager and Senior VP of Asia Pacific and Japan at Veeam
This Cybersecurity Awareness Month, it is important to recognise that the threat landscape has shifted to a new phase. The cybersecurity and data resilience ecosystem in Asia Pacific is facing unprecedented pressure, not only from direct attacks but increasingly from weaknesses in third-party vendors and supply chains. A recent study from Security Scorecard revealed that all of Singapore’s top 100 companies suffered at least one vendor-related breach in the past year, with global headlines reminding us that retailers and consumer-facing industries have fallen victim to such attacks.
At the same time, the latest data from Coveware, Veeam’s leading authority in ransomware response and cyber extortion trends, shows that social engineering through phishing, credential theft, and business email compromise has overtaken software vulnerabilities as the leading attack vector. These trends confirm that the weakest link is often human or procedural, not technical.
Organisations must therefore look beyond compliance-driven checkboxes and instead embed resilience into their culture and governance. That means minimising unnecessary data collection, ensuring third-party accountability, and preparing for rapid recovery as the final safety net.
Cybersecurity may feel daunting, but much of the groundwork has already been laid. By building on existing standards, infrastructures, and best practices, businesses can strengthen trust while safeguarding their future.
Centralising Solutions + Adopting an Identity Security Strategy
Teck Wee Lim, Area Vice President, ASEAN, at CyberArk
Unifying Security Is Key This Cybersecurity Awareness Month and Beyond
Kevin Wong, Country Manager at Fortinet Malaysia
“As Malaysia accelerates its digital transformation through initiatives such as the MyDIGITAL Blueprint and the Malaysia Cyber Security Strategy (MCSS) 2025–2030, the government is laying a strong foundation for a secure digital economy. However, as cybercriminals increasingly leverage artificial intelligence (AI) to automate and scale attacks, the need for a more cohesive cybersecurity approach has never been greater. Many organisations still operate with fragmented systems that limit visibility and slow response.
A recent Fortinet report found that 97% of enterprises in Malaysia are seeking centralised visibility and policy control across clouds, a clear signal that consolidation is now a priority. Fortinet helps organisations achieve this through a unified platform that converges networking and security, delivering real-time intelligence, automated threat detection, and coordinated response across the digital infrastructure. At the same time, we’re helping bridge Malaysia’s cybersecurity skills gap through our training programmes and partnerships with local universities, nurturing the next generation of cybersecurity professionals.
This Cybersecurity Awareness Month, our focus is on turning awareness into sustained actions, ensuring Malaysia’s digital future remains secure, resilient, and ready for what’s next.”
