AI is transforming both sides of the cybersecurity equation. For defenders, it offers the potential to automate detection, accelerate response, and scale threat intelligence with unprecedented speed.
But the same capabilities are now being leveraged by attackers, who are using AI to launch stealthier, faster, and more adaptive attacks.
According to a IDC Study, nearly 56% of organisations across Singapore say they have encountered AI-powered cyber threats in the past year.
Of those, 52% reported a 2X increase and 42% reported a 3X increase in threat volume. These attacks are harder to detect and often exploit blind spots in visibility, governance, and internal processes.
IDC surveyed 550 IT and security leaders across 11 Asia-Pacific markets between February and April 2025. Respondents were based in Australia, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam, Hong Kong and New Zealand. Among them, 88% represented organisations with over 250 employees and were directly involved in cybersecurity decision-making.
More than four in every five organisations across Singapore are already using AI in their security environment. They are rapidly progressing from AI-powered detection to more advanced use cases such as automated response, predictive threat modelling, AI-driven incident response, AI-powered threat intelligence, and behavioural analytics. These top five use cases reflect how detection has become table stakes, while response, prediction, and orchestration are now the next frontier.
Generative AI is also gaining traction, with adoption focused on light-touch tasks such as running playbooks, updating rules and policies, social engineering detection, writing detection rules, and guided investigations. However, trust in autonomous action remains limited. Use cases like auto-remediation and guided remediation are not widely deployed, signalling that we are still in the “co-pilot” phase of adoption.
The shift toward AI-first cybersecurity is also reshaping how teams are built. Across Singapore, the top five cybersecurity roles in demand include security data scientists, threat intelligence analysts, AI security engineers, AI security researchers, and AI-specific incident response professionals.
Organisations are no longer just deploying AI tools; they are building their cybersecurity teams around AI capabilities. This reflects a broader trend where the workforce is rapidly evolving to match the pace of technological adoption.
Cybersecurity budgets are trending upward, with nearly 86% of organisations reporting an increase. However, the vast majority of these increases were modest, 68% reported an uplift of less than 5%, and only 18% saw increases between 5–10%. This suggests that while budgets are growing, spending remains focused on covering rising operational and talent costs.
Organisations appear to be carefully prioritising how and where these limited increases are deployed. The top five areas of investment over the next 12–18 months include identity security, network security, SASE/Zero Trust, cyber resilience, and cloud-native application protection, indicating a strategic shift from infrastructure-heavy spending toward more targeted, risk-centric priorities that reflect the evolving threat landscape.
Simon Piff, research VP at IDC Asia-Pacific, said the findings signal a new era of security operations that is smarter, faster, and more adaptive to the evolving risk landscape.
“AI is fundamentally reshaping how threats are identified, prioritised, and acted upon, and this evolution demands a parallel shift in cybersecurity strategy and talent,” said Piff.
