The program will focus on three main objectives: raising awareness, providing training and skills, and building capacity through sharing technology and knowledge.

For the private sector, the initiative will focus on small and medium-sized enterprises, which account for more than 97% of all businesses in the region and provide 85% of employment opportunities.

Initiatives include: Equipping SMEs with cyber incident response capabilities through the Mastercard Trust Center - a self-service online portal that provides free courses, resources and tools to help SMEs ensure cybersecurity; helping SMEs detect vulnerabilities in their operations through My Cyber ​​Risk, a Mastercard tool that enables businesses to identify, prioritize and address cyber threats to their digital infrastructure.

Representatives of the parties at the signing ceremony.

Additionally, continuously update SMEs on potential threats and hazards through cybersecurity seminars, conferences, as well as industry events related to cybersecurity topics.

For the public sector, the collaborative initiative will promote practical actions to ensure public administrations are cyber-ready, including: conducting webinars specifically designed to address current cybersecurity challenges facing governments in the ASEAN region, providing expert perspectives on key issues to professionals in public sector cyber security roles.

Conduct cyber attack drills to test organizations' readiness and resilience to cyber attacks, and identify areas for improvement.

Conduct research reports, provide risk assessment tools to ASEAN government agencies and promote dialogue and cooperation towards cyber-attack prevention.

These initiatives are part of ASEAN’s ongoing efforts to enhance the region’s cybersecurity capabilities, build cybersecurity capacity and share information on cybercrime among member states.

“To realise the ASEAN Digital Economy vision, we need to deepen regional integration, enable businesses to operate seamlessly and provide consumers with secure and convenient digital services, including online payment solutions,” said Satvinder Singh, Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN for the ASEAN Economic Community. “At the heart of this transformation is strengthening cybersecurity resilience as cyberattacks continue to evolve, becoming increasingly sophisticated and complex. Given Mastercard’s active role in cross-border payment solutions that have a profound impact on economic and social activity globally, Mastercard’s innovative financial and security initiatives are integral to enhancing cybersecurity capabilities and digital trust.”

Southeast Asia has been witnessing a boom in the digital economy, with annual growth of 27% since 2021. Although cybersecurity investment in the region has increased by 14% annually since 2021 and is expected to reach $6.1 billion by 2026, it is still not enough to keep up with the growth of cybercrime in the same region, which increased by 82% from 2021 to 2022. At the same time, small and medium-sized enterprises with weak security systems are the main targets of attacks. For example, in Singapore, about 52% of all recorded cybersecurity attacks in 2023 affected SMEs.

Phuong Ngan