Responding to rapidly growing DNS threats, a critical need for APAC organizations

The average financial loss to organisations across Asia Pacific from DNS attacks is on the rise, up 19% from last year. Reports say that 62% of organizations in the region have suffered application downtime associated with DNS attacks.

Companies in Asia Pacific have been steadily upping their technology spends in a quest to embrace digital economy and respond to increasing consumer and stakeholder demands. As the growth engine of the world, APAC has seen a rapid surge in the exchange of sensitive data, making the region one of the most vulnerable regions for Domain Name System (DNS) attacks.
The 5th edition of the Global DNS Threat Report, updated this year in partnership with IDC, reveals some startling insights on the details within the surge of DNS threats and their impact on both the bottom line and reputation of businesses.

Indeed, globally DNS security is an ongoing and rapidly growing area of concern. The Threat Report reveals that an astounding 82% of companies worldwide have faced a DNS attack over the past year, and the average costs associated with such attacks rose significantly–by 49%. This indicates not only the rising vulnerability of networks to attacks but the significant financial burden caused by this problem. In addition, such attacks not only cause business impediments such as economic losses due to loss of sensitive data but also longer-term damage to brand such as eroding trust and market capitalization.

Therefore, for both established and growing brands, combating the vulnerability of DNS proactively and ensuring a significant risk reduction in the rampant security breaches is a critical focus area at this juncture.

In Asia, damage to reputation as well as impact on costs are pressing concerns for decision makers. When it comes to the latter, the report reveals that dollar-for-dollar, Singapore is the APAC market sustaining the most losses as a result of DNS attacks–averaging close to $924,750 per attack which represents an increase of 30% in the last year. For comparison, the average cost impact to an organization in the region when a DNS attack occurs is about $814,150. Globally, one in five businesses loses more than $1m per DNS attack, and the average organization faces about nine DNS cyber-attacks per year.

Zero trust is taking off in Asia Pacific

With large-scale digital transformation, multi-cloud deployments, and mobility becoming the norm, Asian organizations are evolving to a zero trust mindset. The increasing sophistication in attacks and the growing costs associated with each attack urges for the need for robust DNS security, fueled by threat intelligence and network automation, while implementing a successful zero trust strategy.
The Threat Report also dives deeply into this issue for the region, highlighting that on average 48% of organizations are planning to use zero trust architecture (54% in Singapore vs 39% in Malaysia), and 52% use predictive analytics in the region. However, there is much room for improvement on the automation side, as only 19% of organizations in Asia Pacific have adopted automation for their network security policy management.

Data Protection in Asia – A year after GDPR

Since mid-last year when the GDPR regulation was enforced, dedicated investments have been made by organizations in all countries, in a bid to strengthen network security defenses. Now a year after GDPR, organizations in Asia are increasingly focused on investing in analysis to improve security. With approximately 30% of organizations securing network endpoints, and also 30% implementing enhanced monitoring of DNS traffic, companies in the region are now seeking effective solutions to data confidentiality risks, over and above adding firewalls.
Asia reported close to 45% of organizations experiencing compromised websites, and almost a third, experiencing loss of business as a direct consequence of such attacks. These issues could potentially lead to serious NISD (Network and Information Security Directive) penalties.

Today, DNS attacks are moving away from pure brute force to more sophisticated tactics, in response organizations in Asia are building robust infrastructures that safeguards business continuity and efficiency. A smart solution that envisages and battles these complex DNS threats before they strike is the answer to maintaining strong growth momentum for the APAC region.