Demand for Managed Service Partners Strong as AI-augmented Cyberattacks Highlighted as Top Concern for Organisations across Asia Pacific and Japan

Sophos, a global leader of innovative security solutions for defeating cyberattacks, recently released
its Cybersecurity Playbook for Partners in Asia Pacific and Japan in collaboration with Tech Research
Asia. The report analyzed the priorities for businesses over the next 12 months, and the
opportunities for partners to support these ambitions.

“The ongoing prevalence of cyber threats has forced organisations to address a variety of their
cybersecurity measures,” said Cameron Reid, director, Channel Sales MSP, Sophos Asia Pacific and
Japan. “The report found that the top three areas of importance for businesses are strengthening
cybersecurity posture around financial operations, improving risk management capabilities, and
ensuring cybersecurity is robust enough to support digital transformation programs. Evidently, when
businesses invest in new technologies, it is front of mind that this is done in a secure manner to
ensure potential attack surfaces are protected.”

As organisations continue their digital transformation journey by implementing technologies such as
artificial intelligence (AI), they are concerned about how cybercriminals are doing the same. The
report found AI-augmented cyberattacks are considered the most worrying cyber threats for
organisations in all markets except Australia (ranking third behind credential theft and
phishing/social engineering).

Worryingly, less than one-in-two (45%) of APJ organisations surveyed believe they have the skills to
deal with AI threats, and just over one-in-five (22%) believe they have a comprehensive AI and
automation strategy in place. To combat these AI skills shortages, 45% of organisations are looking to
outsource to partners to support them and 49% intend to train and develop in-house skills with the
assistance of partner supported training and education.

Demand for MSP support is strong

In the next 12 months, 83% of APJ organisations expect to have their cybersecurity budget increase
and 50%intend to invest more into third-party managed security services to consolidate and manage
tech stacks, enhance security capabilities, and alleviate in-house pressures.

The top product and solution areas attracting increased budgets are:

• Infrastructure and network security (62% are increasing budgets)
• Threatdetection and response (61%)
• Application and security (56%)
• Identityaccess management (53%)
• Incidentresponse and recovery (50%)

In terms of vendor environments, only 20% of surveyed organisations use just one vendor for their
cybersecurity needs, with one-in-three (33%) using three or more. Multi-vendor environments will
increase in the next 12 months as organisations move towards flexible and tailored commercial
constructs from partners.

Additionally, organisations are looking for partners with strong security skills. Almost 60% of organisations surveyed said they are unlikely to engage a partner that had been breached or suffered a security incident themselves. Of the companies that will still engage a breached partner, 81% will include extra performance clauses and specific service level agreements.

“Since adversarial behaviours are always evolving, it is essential that organisations get the support
they need to address all aspects of cybersecurity and continue to consistently evaluate and maintain
strong defences against the latest cyberattacks,” added Reid. “The research shows companies
understand they need help building ongoing cyber resiliency and are looking to partners fill their
in-house gaps. This means MSPs have an opportunity to win and maintain business by presenting
their strong technical cybersecurity skills, knowledge of the threat landscape, and an ability to help
customers and prospects stay secure so they can focus on their business operations and goals”.

To learn more about how partners can help organisations remain protected from cyber threats, visit
Sophos MSPs program: https://www.sophos.com/en-us/partners/managed-service-providers