Only 1% of Singapore firms are fully prepared for cyber threats

Six in 10, however, have achieved a "formative" level of cybersecurity readiness.

Only a few companies in Singapore are highly prepared for cybersecurity incidents, with only 1% and 27% of organisations achieving mature and progressive stages of readiness.

Data from the Cisco Cybersecurity Readiness Index showed that 60% and 11% of firms are in the formative and beginner stages, respectively.

“This lack of readiness is substantial despite almost three-quarters of companies (73%) believing a cybersecurity incident will disrupt their business in the next 12-24 months,” Cisco said.

Despite this lack of readiness, 31% of firms in Singapore “feel very confident” in their ability to stay resilient amidst this evolving cybersecurity landscape. 

Cisco said this underlines “a gap that suggests that companies may have misplaced confidence in their ability to navigate the threat landscape and are not properly assessing the true scale of the challenges they face.”

The report, however, underscored that despite companies expressing confidence, they are also recognising threats. 

“In response to the heightened risk, 91% have increased their cybersecurity budgets over the past one to two years, and the majority expect their budgets to increase further in the coming one to two years,” Cisco said.