Only 28% of business leaders in Asia Pacific see cyber security as a major priority, compared to 41% in the US, research from BT shows.
The research, which assessed attitudes to cyber security and levels of preparedness among IT decision makers, highlights that businesses in Asia Pacific are lagging behind their US counterparts in crucial areas.
Just over half (51%) of organizations in Asia Pacific are able to measure the ROI of their cyber security measures, compared to nine in 10 (90%) in the US.
Similarly, 86% of directors and senior decision makers from the US are given IT security training compared to just 48% in Asia Pacific.
Globally, more than half (58%) of IT decision-makers globally say their boards underestimate the importance of cyber security. However, within countries, attitudes to other threats vary significantly.
In Asia Pacific, 74% of IT decision makers deem hacktivism a severe threat. This is followed by malicious insider threats (65%), non-malicious insider threats (63%), organized crime (58%) and nation states (46%).
In the US, those who see non-malicious insider threats as a severe threat increases to 85% and is followed by malicious insider threats (79%), hacktivism (77%), organized crime (75%), terrorism (72%) and nation states (70%).
Globally, over half of IT decision makers believe that hacktivism (54%) and malicious insider threats (53%) will pose greater risk over the next 12 months.