Thailand's spending on information security is likely to drive the overall annual IT spending to growth in 2017 after five straight years of contraction, thanks to the increased awareness of cyberthreats.
"We see growing demand for security devices and technology in Thailand, boosted by the development of the Thailand 4.0 model and the increasing adoption of data analytics and Internet of Things (IoT)," said Vatsun Thirapatarapong, managing director of Cisco System Thailand, the local operating unit of the world's largest IT networking company.
"Thailand's IT spending is expected to grow by at least 7% this year, after five consecutive years of contracting," he said.
Cybersecurity is fundamental to businesses under the Thailand 4.0 economic model, as organisations need to ensure greater ability to cope with growing security risks.
As more companies embrace digital disruption, the pace of technological change accelerates, business model innovation improves and industries blend -- all of which put a spotlight on business cybersecurity threats, said Mr Vatsun.
"Analytic tools, IoT and cloud computing will be the three biggest cybersecurity threats of 2017," he said.
Based on a report of the Electronic Transactions Development Agency (EDTA), he said Thailand was ranked fifth out of a total of 25 countries in Asia for cybersecurity risks encountered last year, and 11th in the world.
Financial institutions, banks in particular, have become the prime target for cybercriminals to steal data and sell it or use it to make money.
The report also found that government websites have become a favourite target for hackers.
Thailand had 4,300 cyberattack incidents in 2015, up from 3,300 in 2014.
The number of cybersecurity incidents during January-March in 2016 totalled 1,017, with 348 intrusions, an increase of 47.45% from the past three years (2013-15).
Mr Vatsun cited a survey from research firm DBT Center on 941 business and IT leaders in 12 industries which found that digital disruption will displace 40% of today's top 10 incumbents by industry over the next five years.
Almost half of the companies surveyed are not addressing the risk.
In addition, 40% of the top 100 companies will be displaced by digital disruption over the next five years.
Mr Vatsan also said primary barriers to an organisation's digital transformation journey include: a lack of appropriate skills necessary to define, implement and operate appropriate levels of data protection and privacy-specific security controls; lack of a defined digital strategy; a failure to prioritise resources for shifted tasks; and lack of knowledge to deploy integrated and robust digital security solutions.
Based on global research firm IDC's second quarter report, Cisco is the world's largest appliance vendor, and is well-positioned to help organisations deploy integrated intrusion prevention systems, network access control and secure e-mail gateways.