Sydney, August 24, 2023 — Cloudflare, Inc. (NYSE: NET), the security, performance, and reliability company helping to build a better Internet, today released a new study focused on cybersecurity in Asia Pacific. The report, called “Securing the Future: Asia Pacific Cybersecurity Readiness Survey”, shares the latest data on cybersecurity preparedness in the region, revealing how organisations are coping with rising volumes of cybersecurity incidents, their levels of preparedness, and the outcomes experienced.

In the study, Cloudflare reveals that 76% of Australian organisations experienced a cybersecurity incident in the past year, mostly attributed to phishing, web attacks, and Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS), which was linked to attempts at financial gain, spyware, and ransomware.

Interestingly, when comparing Australia against its APAC neighbours, it appears that Australian organisations are dealing with less frequent cyberattacks. Among respondents from APAC organisations who experienced a cybersecurity incident, 80% reported four or more cybersecurity incidents in the past year, while 50% have experienced 10 or more. Meanwhile, 37% of Australian respondents reported more than 10 incidents this year, and 63% of respondents had fewer than 10 incidents.

Whilst Australia may be seeing fewer attacks than our regional counterparts, the growing cost of cybersecurity incidents is palpable, with 49% of respondents saying they incurred a financial impact of at least AUD$1.5 million over the past 12 months, while 25% of small organisations in Australia suffered a financial impact of at least AUD$3M.

Considering the frequency of cybersecurity incidents in Australia, only 43% of respondents indicated they were highly prepared to prevent them.  In addition, only 27% of respondents who experienced cybersecurity incidents disclosed them to the authorities. Australian business leaders also pointed towards talent shortage as the biggest challenge they’ve faced in regard to cybersecurity preparedness, even more than a lack of funding.

Speaking to the findings, Raymond Maisano, Head of Australia and New Zealand at Cloudflare, explained, “Preparedness is key, but when it comes to deploying cybersecurity solutions, we’re finding less is more and efforts need to be directed into streamlining the security architecture to improve cybersecurity outcomes. The increasingly complex threat environment paired with the industry-wide talent crunch needs to be met with a strong security culture that empowers business leaders, boards and the rest of the company to proactively build their awareness and approach cybersecurity holistically,” Maisano continues.

Today, some of Australia’s most sophisticated organisations turn to Cloudflare for their cybersecurity needs, including Envato and Melbourne Airport. “We’re a cloud-native company with a global workforce. Our staff needs to access key company resources from wherever they are in the world. Cloudflare was a really good fit — a secure, effective, and simpler approach than traditional access controls,” said Ross Simpson, Senior Principal Security Engineer at Envato.

To find out more about the Asia Pacific Cybersecurity Readiness Survey, please check out:

• Whitepaper download

Survey Methodology

This survey was conducted by Sandpiper Communications, on behalf of Cloudflare across a total of 4,009 cyber security decision-makers and leaders from small (150 to 999 employees), medium (1,000 to 2500 employees), and large (more than 2,500 employees) organizations. Respondents were drawn from a wide range of industries: Business & Professional Services; Construction & Real Estate; Education; Energy, Utilities & Natural Resources; Financial Services; Gaming; Government; Healthcare; IT & Technology; Manufacturing; Media & Telecoms; Retail; Transportation; Travel, Tourism & Hospitality. Respondents were based in 14 markets across Asia Pacific: Australia, China, Hong Kong SAR, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam (n=203 to 426 per country), and were surveyed online and recruited via general business panels. The survey was aimed at building a better understanding of the threat landscape facing Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) and their teams across the vast and varied territories of Asia Pacific, and the actions driving positive results and outcomes. The survey was conducted in July 2023.

About Cloudflare

Cloudflare, Inc. (www.cloudflare.com / @cloudflare) is on a mission to help build a better Internet. Cloudflare’s suite of products protect and accelerate any Internet application online without adding hardware, installing software, or changing a line of code. Internet properties powered by Cloudflare have all web traffic routed through its intelligent global network, which gets smarter with every request. As a result, they see significant improvement in performance and a decrease in spam and other attacks. Cloudflare was awarded by Reuters Events for Global Responsible Business in 2020, named to Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies in 2021, and ranked among Newsweek’s Top 100 Most Loved Workplaces in 2022.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, which statements involve substantial risks and uncertainties. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements because they contain words such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “expect,” “explore,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “could,” “intend,” “target,” “project,” “contemplate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,” “potential,” or “continue,” or the negative of these words, or other similar terms or expressions that concern Cloudflare’s expectations, strategy, plans, or intentions. However, not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. Forward-looking statements expressed or implied in this press release include, but are not limited to, statements regarding Cloudflare’s plans and objectives, Cloudflare’s global network, and Cloudflare’s products and technology, Cloudflare’s technological development, future operations, growth, initiatives, or strategies, and comments made by Cloudflare’s Vice President and Managing Director, Asia Pacific, Japan, and China, and others. Actual results could differ materially from those stated or implied in forward-looking statements due to a number of factors, including but not limited to, risks detailed in Cloudflare’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including Cloudflare’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed on August 3, 2023, as well as other filings that Cloudflare may make from time to time with the SEC.

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