Top Asia Pacific Risks in the Post Pandemic era

Cyber incidents (#1 with 40% responses), is the top Asia Pacific risk for the third consecutive year while, Business interruption (#2 with 37%) and Pandemic outbreak (#3 with 27%) make up the top three business risks followed by Natural catastrophes (#4 with 25% ) rounding out the key issues in the region.

In Asia Pacific, Cyber was the top risk in Australia, India and Japan reflecting the recent technology woes of companies in the region.

In July, Japanese companies were targeted by a cyber hacking group called APT40. IT vulnerabilities was also an issue as seen with DBS, Southeast Asia’s largest lender.

Their digital banking services experienced a two-day disruption caused by an issue with its access control servers. Last month, hackers also launched over a million attacks on companies globally, including across Asia Pacific in just four days, through a previously unnoticed vulnerability in a widely-used piece of open-source software called Log4J.

As expected, Changes in legislation and regulation (#5 with 22%) also kept its place amongst the top five Asia Pacific risks in 2022 for the fourth consecutive year.

Geopolitical Rivalry

In China, there is continuing crackdown on big internet companies and the US-China geopolitical rivalry has had widespread pressure on economic activity, ranging from trade to technology and investment.

2022 may likely see further political challenges, as the US heads into mid-term elections and China gathers for an all-important Communist Party Congress.

Commenting on the Asia Pacific results Mark Mitchell, AGCS APAC Managing Director, says: “It is no surprise that Cyber remains as the top Asia Pacific risk for the third consecutive year in light of the high-profile ransomware attacks, combined with challenges caused by accelerating digitalization and remote working.

“Following a year of unprecedented global supply chain disruption, business interruption is a consequence of many of the other risks in the rankings, such as cyber and natural catastrophes and will be a perennial concern for companies the world over and in Asia Pacific.

“Meanwhile, the pandemic has exposed the extent of vulnerabilities in modern supply chains, and how multiple risks can come together to create disruption. There will be a greater need for companies to build resilience to cope with the interconnectivity of risks in future.”