TrendAI: AI risk rises as governance fails to keep up

Global AI security provider TrendAI has found that organisations worldwide are pushing ahead with AI deployment despite known security and compliance risks. 

The new global study surveyed 3,700 business and IT decision makers, with 200 from Singapore. It found that 67% of respondents from Singapore have felt pressured to approve AI despite security concerns, with one in nine describing those concerns as “extreme” but overridden to keep pace with competitors and internal demand.

David Ng, MD – Singapore, Philippines & Indonesia, TrendAI said: “Organisations are not lacking awareness of risk, they’re lacking the conditions to manage it. When deployment is driven by competitive pressure rather than governance maturity, you create a situation where AI is embedded into critical systems without the controls needed to manage it safely. This research reinforces our focus on helping organisations drive solid business outcomes with AI while still managing business risk.”

The risk of pressure-driven AI rollout is exacerbated by governance inconsistencies and unclear responsibility for AI risk that are becoming widespread. The same is true for security teams working on a reactive basis to top-down AI rollout decisions, which often leads to workarounds and increased use of unsanctioned or “shadow” AI tools.

Recent TrendAI threat research reinforces this shift, showing how attackers are already using AI to automate reconnaissance, accelerate phishing campaigns and lower the barrier to entry for cybercrime. The result is increased speed and scale of attacks.

According to TrendAI, organisations in Singapore are deploying AI faster than they can manage the associated risks, creating a widening gap between ambition and oversight. One in three organisations (29%) feel well-prepared for the pace of AI adoption, while more than half (59%) are, at best, moderately confident in their understanding of the legal frameworks governing AI.

Governance maturity remains low. About a third (39%) of organisations have comprehensive AI policies in place, with many still drafting them, and 48% cite unclear regulation or compliance standards as a barrier. In practice, AI is being operationalised before the rules governing its use are fully established.
 
Confidence in more advanced, autonomous systems is still maturing. While more than half (57%) of IT decision makers (ITDMs) believe agentic AI will significantly improve cyberdefence in the short term, there are still ongoing concerns around data access, misuse and lack of oversight:  

- More than four in 10 ITDMs (42%) fear abuse of trusted AI status. 

 - A similar number (39%) are concerned about AI agents accessing sensitive data.

- Over a third (36%) warn about risks linked to autonomous code deployment. 

- One in three ITDMs (33%) say malicious prompts could compromise security. 

- Three in 10 ITDMs (31%) point to a growing attack surface for cybercriminals.

At the same time, over a third (38%) admit they lack observability or auditability over these systems, raising serious questions about how organisations can control or intervene once agents are deployed.

Around four in 10 organisations support the introduction of AI “kill switch” mechanisms to shut down systems in the event of failure or misuse, while nearly half remain unsure. This lack of consensus highlights a deeper issue. Organisations are moving towards autonomous AI without agreement on how to retain control when it matters most.

“Agentic AI is moving organisations into a new risk category,” added Rachel Jin, Chief Platform & Business Officer and Head of TrendAI. 

“Our research shows the concerns are already clear, from sensitive data exposure to loss of oversight. Without visibility and control, organisations are deploying systems they don’t fully understand or govern, and that risk is only going to increase unless action is taken.”

Trend Micro announced that its enterprise cybersecurity business will now operate under the name TrendAI in March. 

Explore

Read the report at https://www.trendmicro.com/explore/trendai-global-ai-study/ 

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