Talent shortage leaves 47% of cybersecurity teams overstretched, survey finds

The Kaspersky 2026 report flags Singapore as APAC’s top target for third-party access attacks.

Nearly half, or 47%, of security teams in Singapore are overstretched, with 34% of organisations citing insufficient IT personnel as a key barrier, leaving teams juggling urgent tasks alongside long-term resilience priorities, according to a global Kaspersky study released on 26 March.

The study found supply chain attacks are a growing threat, with one in three organisations globally affected over the past year.

APAC organisations face similar challenges with talent shortages in Vietnam reaching 57%, whilst Malaysia’s workforce gap is significant, with their Ministry of Digital projecting a need for 28,068 cybersecurity professionals by 2026 versus an existing 16,765.

Structural issues exacerbate risks.

Across Asia and the Pacific, 30% to 61% of organisations report contracts lacking IT security obligations for contractors, and 25% to 38% say non-IT staff do not fully understand supply chain risks.

Mitigation practices remain inconsistent: in Singapore, only 28% of organisations have adopted two-factor authentication, below the regional average.

The survey also noted that organisations previously impacted by supply chain or trusted relationship breaches adopt stronger security practices, such as requesting penetration test results and checking contractor compliance with industry standards.

Kaspersky executives emphasised that supply chain security must be treated with the same discipline as internal operations