Rising AI, Digitalisation Heighten Cybersecurity Risks In ASEAN, Expert Warns

By Anas Abu Hassan

SINGAPORE, Oct 20 (Bernama) -- Rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) and digitalisation among ASEAN countries underscores the importance of enhancing cybersecurity preparedness amid heightened risks within the region, an expert said.

Ensign InfoSecurity Deputy Chairman David Koh believed that the complex environment resulting from the region's digitalisation journey, coupled with AI advancement has widened the attack surface for cybercriminals.

He said threats such as ransomware and supply chain attacks are becoming more concerning as countries, businesses and essential services grow increasingly interconnected.

"All of us are increasing our digitalisation, which means that the potential for cyberattack increases.

“In addition, AI is also something which a lot of individuals, companies, governments are adopting because of the possibilities and the opportunities, so all of these things mean that the attack surface has been getting bigger and bigger," he told Bernama in an exclusive interview recently.

Koh observed that cybersecurity preparedness varies across ASEAN member states, as well as between organisations within individual countries.

This, he said, could lead to less mature entities potentially becoming vulnerable to attacks that could spread through interconnected systems.

"On the defence side, I would say that preparedness is improving, but it is still uneven, with different countries at different levels of preparedness," he added.

Calls for greater cybersecurity cooperation in ASEAN

Against the current backdrop, Koh suggested that ASEAN countries must strengthen cross-border cooperation in sharing cyber threat intelligence, reporting incidents and exchanging best practices to address sophisticated cyberattacks.

He noted that enhancing regional cooperation is essential, giving example a cyberattack targeting a bank or transport system in one country could potentially affect neighbouring countries as critical infrastructure and economic activities become more interconnected.

"These attacks do not respect our country's borders, they do not stop magically at the causeway, so if something happens here it will cross over to the other country and vice versa.

"So we need to strengthen our controls and make sure that we employ best practices, not just to share intelligence, but also to share best practices on what can be done," he said.

Koh cited existing regional mechanisms, including the ASEAN Regional Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) and the ASEAN Cyber Incident Drill (ACID), as platforms supporting information-sharing, incident reporting and coordination among member states.

However, he said effective cooperation required more than formal mechanisms, emphasising the importance of building trust and familiarity among governments, businesses and cybersecurity practitioners.

Koh highlighted that to strengthen regional preparedness, governments also need to work in tandem with private entities because cybersecurity is a problem that extends beyond policy and connects to critical infrastructure owned by private sectors.  

"In any country, no one company or one agency or even the whole government can fix the cybersecurity problem by itself. You need teamwork.

"The government can do all the right things, but you need the private sector to also take responsibility and do these things," he concluded.

-- BERNAMA