AI makes cybercrime quieter and quicker: Fortinet

Fortinet, the global cybersecurity provider driving the convergence of networking and security, has observed a sharp escalation in both the volume and sophistication of cyberthreats across Singapore and the Asia Pacific region. 

An IDC study*, commissioned by Fortinet, highlights how attackers are rapidly adopting 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.

The rise of AI-enabled cybercrime is no longer theoretical. Over half (nearly 56%) of organisations in Singapore said that they have encountered AI-powered cyberthreats in the past year. These threats are scaling fast, with a 2x increase reported by 52% and a 3x increase by 42% of organisations.

This new class of AI-powered threats are harder to detect and often exploit weaknesses in human behaviour, misconfigurations, and identity systems. In Singapore, the top AI-driven threats reported include deepfake impersonation in business email compromise (BEC), automated reconnaissance of attack surfaces, polymorphic malware, adversarial AI and data poisoning, and AI-automated exploit development targeting zero-day vulnerabilities.

Despite the rise in AI-driven attacks, only 18% of organisations say they are very confident in their ability to defend against them. Meanwhile, 32% acknowledge that AI threats are outpacing their detection capabilities, and one in twenty organisations in Singapore have no ability to track AI-powered threats at all—exposing a significant preparedness gap.

The threat landscape

Fortinet said organisations in Singapore are increasingly vulnerable to threats that operate in the shadows. The most reported threats include software supply chain attacks (74%), ransomware (70%), phishing (64%), cloud vulnerabilities (52%), and insider threats (46%).

Topping the list of disruptive threats 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.

While traditional threats such as phishing and malware are still growing at a rate of ~10%, but this is comparatively modest, likely due to mature defences like endpoint protection and awareness training. In contrast, the fastest-rising threats include ransomware (28%), supply chain attacks and cloud vulnerabilities (18% each); IoT/OT attacks (17%), and insider threats (16.0%). 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, Fortinet believes.

The consequences are no longer limited to downtime. The top business impacts of cyberattacks include loss of customer trust (72%), regulatory penalties (66%); data theft and privacy violations (48%), and operational disruption (42%). More than half (52%) of respondents experienced breaches that resulted in monetary loss, with one in three costing over US$500,000. 

A resource issue

Security teams in Singapore continue to face significant resource constraints. On average, just 7% of an organisation’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 15.6% of organisations have a standalone CISO, and most (63%) continue to combine cybersecurity responsibilities with broader IT roles. Just 6.4% of organisations have specialised 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 (53.6%), difficulty in retaining skilled cybersecurity talent (53.5%), and tool complexity (44.5%)—leading to burnout and fragmentation within cyber teams.

Cybersecurity investment

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. While budgets are ticking up, with nearly 86% of organisations in Singapore reporting an increase, most of these increases remain under 10%. The implication is that investment is still cautious.

Organisations 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.

Convergence

Convergence between security and networking is now mainstream, with 96% of respondents in Singapore either already converging or actively evaluating options. This move reflects the urgency to simplify architectures, integrate defences, and streamline operations.

Around 70% of organisations 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 organisations seek from consolidation include faster support (59%), cost savings (53.0%), better integration (53%), and improved security posture (51%).

Simon Piff, Research VP, IDC Asia-Pacific commented: “The findings of this survey point to a growing need for AI-accelerated defence strategies across APJC. Organisations 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.”

Noted Jess Ng, Country Head, Fortinet Singapore and Brunei: “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 organisations across Singapore 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, VP of Marketing and Communications, Asia & ANZ said: “As cyberthreats grow more covert and coordinated, we’re seeing a clear shift in how organisations 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.”

*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 organisations 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.