Mastercard has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the ASEAN Foundation to launch the ASEAN Foundation-Mastercard Cybersecurity Resilience Program. This initiative aims to bolster cybersecurity capabilities across Southeast Asia, focusing on public sector entities and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The program will concentrate on raising awareness, providing skills and training, and improving capacity through technology and intelligence.
The collaboration aligns with Malaysia’s Budget 2025, which emphasizes enhancing cybersecurity for SMEs and the public sector. The Malaysian government has allocated an additional RM30 million to strengthen cybersecurity and digital skills.
The ASEAN Foundation-Mastercard Cybersecurity Resilience Program comes at a crucial time as Southeast Asia’s digital economy rapidly expands, with significant growth in cybersecurity investment at 14 percent annually since 2021 and expected to reach US$6.1 billion by 2026. However, it is still insufficient to properly tackle the region’s fast-growing cybercrime, which saw an increase of 82 percent between 2021 and 2022.
Satvinder Singh, Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN for ASEAN Economic Community, highlighted the importance of strengthening cyber resilience to achieve ASEAN’s Digital Economy vision. “Achieving ASEAN’s Digital Economy vision will involve enhanced regional integration to enable businesses to operate seamlessly while offering consumers efficient and secure digital services. At the heart of this transformation lies the need to strengthen cyber resilience in the ever-evolving nature of cyber threats, which have become increasingly sophisticated and pervasive.”
“Enhancing cybersecurity capacity and expertise is necessary to navigate today’s rapidly evolving digital threats and build a strong digital economy. By delivering impactful initiatives for both public sector and SMEs, this collaboration will contribute towards a secure, resilient digital ecosystem for all participants, enabling countless new opportunities for individuals and businesses, and accelerating inclusive growth in Southeast Asia, including Malaysia,” said Safdar Khan, Division President, Southeast Asia, Mastercard.
The program is set to offer various initiatives, including the Mastercard Trust Center, My Cyber Risk tool, and cybersecurity workshops and webinars for SMEs. For the public sector, activities will include cybersecurity webinars, crisis simulation exercises, and developing research reports and risk assessment tools.