Reasons Behind Poor Cybersecurity Readiness of Singapore’s Small Organizations: Reveal by Case Studies

Digitalization and cybersecurity are two important trends that are affecting the business world tremendously. Digitalization, which drives data analytics, provides opportunities for organizations to create new models to beat competition. On the other hand, cybersecurity is a threat to organizations’ financials, operations, and reputation. COVID-19 has accelerated the adoption of digitalization, which has opened up more opportunities for hackers for cyberattacks. In another word, digitalization underlines the importance of cybersecurity. With the foresight of the government, Singapore has promoted cybersecurity as one of the pillars for the nation’s total defence to signal the government’s attention and resources committed to fighting against cyberattacks. Notwithstanding the effort from the government, losses due to cyberattacks continue to rise. Furthermore, the network of the biggest healthcare provider in the country was compromised and its data, including that of the Prime Minister, was stolen. For small organizations where resources may be limited, the risks are even higher, pointing to the urgent need to address the situations. Therefore, this article uses two small organizations in Singapore as case study, to draw insights on the obstacles to implement digitalization and cybersecurity. With the insights, actions that can be taken by the government, businesses, and academies, are proposed to improve the digitalization and cybersecurity of small organizations, in Singapore and elsewhere.