Fortinet, the global cybersecurity leader driving the convergence of networking and security, today, today announced the findings of a new IDC survey that reveals a sharp escalation in both the volume and sophistication of cyber threats across Malaysia and the Asia Pacific region. The study, commissioned by Fortinet, highlights how attackers are rapidly adopting Artificial Intelligence (AI) to scale stealthy, fast-moving attacks—leaving security teams struggling to detect and respond in time. The results reveal a threat landscape that is not only evolving in complexity but also shifting toward gaps in visibility, governance, and infrastructure, posing greater challenges to overstretched cyber teams.
AI Joins the Attacker’s Arsenal — And Most Firms Have Felt It
- The rise of AI-enabled cybercrime is no longer theoretical. Nearly 50% of organizations In Malaysia said that they have encountered AI-powered cyber threats in the past year. These threats are scaling fast, with a 2X increase reported by 54% and a 3X increase by 24% of organizations.
- This new class of AI-powered threats are harder to detect and often exploit weaknesses in human behaviour, misconfigurations, and identity systems. In Malaysia, the top AI-driven threats reported include AI-automated exploit development targeting zero-day vulnerabilities, polymorphic malware, AI-assisted credential stuffing and brute force attacks, adversarial AI and data poisoning and Deepfake impersonation in business email compromise (BEC),
- Despite the rise in AI-driven attacks, only 19% of organizations say they are very confident in their ability to defend against them. Meanwhile, 27% admit that AI threats are outpacing their detection capabilities, and 20% of organizations in Malaysia have no ability to track AI-powered threats at all—exposing a significant preparedness gap.
Cyber Risk Is Now a Constant, not a Crisis
- The cybersecurity landscape is no longer defined by episodic crises—it is a state of constant exposure. Organizations in Malaysia are increasingly vulnerable to threats that operate in the shadows. The most reported threats include ransomware (64%), software supply chain attacks (54%), insider threats (52%), cloud vulnerabilities (46%), and phishing (40%).
- The most disruptive threats are no longer the most obvious. Topping the list are unpatched and zero-day exploits, followed closely by insider threats, cloud misconfigurations, software supply chain attacks, and human error. These threats are particularly damaging because they often go undetected by traditional defences, exploiting internal weaknesses and visibility gaps. As a result, these quieter, more complex risks are now viewed as more dangerous than well-known threats like ransomware or phishing.
- Traditional threats such as phishing and malware are still growing at a rate of ~5 to 7%, but this is comparatively modest —likely due to mature defences like endpoint protection and awareness training. In contrast, the fastest-rising threats include Supply chain attacks (14%) Ransomware (12%), unpatched and zero-day exploits (10%) and cloud vulnerabilities and IoT/OT attacks (8%). These threats are scaling rapidly because they exploit gaps in governance, visibility, and system complexity—making them harder to detect and potentially more damaging when successful.
- The consequences are no longer limited to downtime. The top business impacts of cyberattacks include data theft and privacy violations (64%), regulatory penalties (48%), loss of customer trust (44%), and operational disruption (40%). Financial damage is also real: 50% of respondents experienced breaches that resulted in monetary loss, with one in three costing over US$500,000.
Teams Under Pressure: Too Few People, Too Many Problems
- Security teams in Malaysia continue to face significant resource constraints. On average, just 7% of an organization’s workforce is dedicated to internal IT, and only 13% of that subset is focused on cybersecurity. That equates to less than one full-time cybersecurity professional for every 100 employees.
- Only 15% of organizations have a standalone Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), and most (63%) continue to combine cybersecurity responsibilities with broader IT roles. Just 6% of organizations have specialized teams for functions like threat hunting and security operations.
- These lean teams are also facing mounting pressure from the surge in threats. The top challenges reported include overwhelming threat volume (54%), difficulty in retaining skilled cybersecurity talent (52%), and tool complexity (44%)—leading to burnout and fragmentation within cyber teams.
Investment Is Rising, but Still Lagging Behind Risk
- Despite increased awareness, cybersecurity investment remains disproportionately low. On average, just 15% of IT budgets are allocated to cybersecurity, representing just over 1% of total revenue—a small fraction given the scale and severity of threats.
- However, Budgets are ticking up, with nearly 74% of organizations in Malaysia reporting an increase. However, most of these increases remain under 10%, suggesting that investment is still cautious.
- Organizations are increasingly shifting from infrastructure-heavy spending to more strategic investments. The top five priorities include identity security, network security, SASE/Zero Trust, cyber resilience, and cloud-native application protection—indicating a shift toward access-centric, risk-based security planning.
- However, critical areas such as OT/IoT security, DevSecOps, and security training continue to receive limited funding—indicating a persistent lag in addressing operational and human-layer vulnerabilities.
Platform-Driven Resilience Amid Rising Complexity
- Convergence between security and networking is now mainstream, with 96% of respondents in Malaysia either already converging or actively evaluating options. This move reflects the urgency to simplify architectures, integrate defences, and streamline operations.
- Around 80% of organizations are already on a consolidation journey—but challenges remain. Despite this progress, nearly half of all respondents still cite tool management as a major challenge, indicating that the problem is no longer the number of tools, but the fragmentation and lack of integration across them.
- Vendor consolidation is increasingly viewed as a strategic lever—not just for cost reduction, but to improve detection speed, issue resolution, and visibility. The top benefits organizations seek from consolidation include faster support (59%), cost savings (53.0%), better integration (53%), and improved security posture (51%).
Supporting Quotes
Simon Piff, Research Vice-President, IDC Asia-Pacific:
“The findings of this survey point to a growing need for AI-accelerated defence strategies across APJC. Organizations are facing a surge in stealthy, complex threats—from misconfigurations and insider activity to AI-enabled attacks—that bypass traditional detection methods. A shift toward integrated, risk-centric cybersecurity models is critical to staying ahead. In this new threat landscape, reactive security is no longer enough—predictive, intelligence-driven operations must become the norm.”
Kevin Wong, Country Manager, Fortinet Malaysia:
“Complexity is now the new battleground in cybersecurity—and AI is both the challenge and the frontline defence. As threats grow quieter and more coordinated, Fortinet is helping organizations across Malaysia stay ahead with a unified, platform-based approach that brings together visibility, automation, and resilience. In today’s threat environment, speed, simplicity, and strategy matter more than ever. Our focus is on helping customers shift from piecemeal defences to AI-powered security that’s built for scale and sophistication.”
Rashish Pandey, Vice President of Marketing and Communications, Asia & ANZ:
“As cyber threats grow more covert and coordinated, we’re seeing a clear shift in how organizations approach cybersecurity investment. The focus is moving beyond infrastructure to more strategic areas like identity, resilience, and access. At Fortinet, we’re helping customers reframe cybersecurity as a long-term business enabler — not just a line of defence. Our platform brings the scale, intelligence, and simplicity needed to adapt and thrive in this new reality.”
About the Survey
IDC surveyed 550 IT and security leaders across 11 Asia-Pacific markets—including Australia, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam, Hong Kong, and New Zealand—between February and April 2025. Respondents represented organizations with over 250 employees and were directly involved in cybersecurity decision-making. The findings are published in the IDC Info Snapshot, sponsored by Fortinet, State of Cybersecurity in Asia-Pacific: From Constant Risk to Platform-Driven Resilience, May 2025, IDC Doc #AP249601X.
About Fortinet
Fortinet is a driving force in the evolution of cybersecurity and the convergence of networking and security. Our mission is to secure people, devices, and data everywhere, and today we deliver cybersecurity everywhere our customers need it with the largest integrated portfolio of over 50 enterprise-grade products. Well over half a million customers trust Fortinet’s solutions, which are among the most deployed, most patented, and most validated in the industry. The Fortinet Training Institute, one of the largest and broadest training programs in the industry, is dedicated to making cybersecurity training and new career opportunities available to everyone. Learn more at https://www.fortinet.com,
(Adapted from press release)
