The region has placed a slightly higher emphasis on Zero Trust compared to other countries, but it lags in implementation.
In a survey of 400 security leaders in the Asia Pacific region (APAC) as part of a wider study on the state of zero trust security, APAC respondents (77%) prioritized this type of security slightly more than those in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (76%) and North America.
Despite the region’s emphasis on Zero Trust Security, at the time of the survey APAC organizations were lagging (13%) their counterparts in EMEA and North America (20% in both regions).
Data showed that the greatest challenges for APAC organizations in adopting a Zero Trust Security infrastructure included:
- Talent/skills shortages (44%)
- Cost concerns (22.3%)
- Technology gaps (14.3%)
Across APAC, the addition of countless new devices, networks and applications to organizations’ IT ecosystems within a short period of time has increased businesses’ attack surfaces. Adoption of zero trust in APAC to tighten cybersecurity was promising: 84% of the region’s respondents had implemented single sign-on for employees, along with multi-factor authentication.
However, only 35% had implemented secure access to APIs. Additionally, while only 3% of APAC respondent organizations have context-based access policies; 40% had intended to implement it within the next 12–18 months.
According to Graham Sowden, General Manager, Asia Pacific, Okta, the firm that commissioned the study: “Today, most business leaders recognize the value of such arrangements in driving long term business growth post pandemic, and are committed to sustaining them. However, it is imperative… that they continue to be vigilant in anticipating new threats that emerge in this new digital landscape, by continually assessing their current IT infrastructure, and making strategic investments to stay ahead of threat actors.”
Sowden was heartened that most APAC respondents had the fundamentals covered, but “adopting advanced measures like passwordless technologies such as biometrics and contextual factors—will help businesses increase security and tackle data breaches more effectively.”
