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Cybersecurity in ASEAN: An Urgent Call to Action
on cybersecurity (see figure 16 on page 21). The Digital Evolution Index (DEI) 2017
22
rankings for
the ASEAN cohort suggest that some ASEAN countries are exhibiting significant digital
momentumwith strong headroom for growth. But the digital divide is likely to result in
differing national investment priorities that can lead to friction when determining investment
commitments for national and regional cybersecurity defense.
Benchmarking the region’s cybersecurity spend as a percentage of GDP shows that most
economies are on a strong digital growth trajectory, but without a commensurate increase in
cybersecurity spend. The region currently spends an average 0.06 percent of its collective GDP
on cybersecurity, while the world’s top countries spend at least five times the relative proportion
of their GDP.
The region’s lower level of investment can be attributed to several factors. First, there is a lack of
policy-level guidance and clarity on prudent practices in terms of cybersecurity spend. Second,
as highlighted earlier, cybersecurity is considered to be an IT issue and not a business risk,
thereby underestimating the value-at-risk. Third, a defense only approach focused on
protection capabilities results in detection, recovery, and response being under developed.
Finally, reporting mechanisms for breaches and their associated financial impact remain
limited, making it difficult to calculate the risk.
As such, there is a need to establish a clear cybersecurity investment path for respective ASEAN
countries based on the pace of digital evolution, risk levels, and the current level of
Mobile broadband penetration
of population
Individuals using the Internet
of population
Global Digital Evolution Index
Networked
Readiness Index
Figure
The ASEAN region has a signi icant digital divide
Note: Brunei was not ranked in
; ranking based on
report.
Sources: World Economic Forum, World Bank, GSMA; A.T. Kearney analysis
Singapore
Malaysia
Brunei
Thailand
Indonesia
Philippines
Vietnam
Laos
Cambodia
Myanmar
%
%
% %
%
%
%
%
%
%
Vietnam
Myanmar
Laos
Indonesia
Brunei
Cambodia
Malaysia
Thailand
Singapore
Philippines
%
%
%
%
%
%
%
%
%
%
Vietnam
Myanmar
Laos
Indonesia
Brunei
Cambodia
Malaysia
Thailand
Singapore
Philippines
.
.
.
.
.
.
Vietnam
Indonesia
Malaysia Thailand
Singapore
Philippines
Index rating
22
The Digital Evolution Index is calculated from 108 digitalization indicators across four areas: supply conditions, demand
conditions, the institutional environment, and innovation and change, including smartphone adoption; digital payment adoption;
R&D spend; communication, financial, and logistics infrastructure; transparency and the rule of law; the business environment,
and financing options.