Technology’s growth spurt is leaving security behind

As the dominance of the digital world has increasingly become driven by convenience and speed, and AI has become the latest exciting piece of technology, recent events have served as a stark reminder that our security systems may be struggling to keep up — and not necessarily a fault of their own. Just this week, cybersecurity researchers confirmed the discovery of a huge leak of stolen credentials — a staggering 16 billion usernames and passwords, affecting services ranging from Apple and Google to Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), and Telegram.

This revelation comes just weeks after another major breach, in which over 184 million passwords and login credentials were found sitting peacefully on an unprotected, publicly available web hosting platform. That breach, discovered in late May, similarly involved access to widely used platforms such as Snapchat and LinkedIn, but also more critical information, such as bank and financial accounts, health platforms, and government portals. Public access has since been rescinded.

When viewed in isolation, each incident is a sufficient cause for concern. But taken together — and alongside the ransomware attack that brought Marks & Spencer to a standstill — they paint a picture of a global digital ecosystem that is enthusiastically pressing forward with technological transformation, overlooking security measures in its excitement. Nobody thinks that they are the ones in danger.

The clearest example of this is by looking at cyber security roles. According to a recent report by NodeFlair, salaries for cybersecurity professionals saw the steepest decline among all local tech roles in 2024 — an unsettling trend given the rise in both the frequency and severity of cyber threats. While demand for AI and cloud engineers continues to surge, the personnel, infrastructure, and industry that supports and protects these innovations is not receiving the same investment.

While these issues may seem to be a foreign problem, it is a matter close to home as well. In Singapore, micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) account for 99% of businesses, 70% of total employment, and contribute nearly half of the nation’s GDP. Like every other company in the world, these MSMEs will use cloud services, AI-enabled tools, or eCommerce services, meaning that there are also potential gaps in their cybersecurity web that can be taken advantage of. But as a much smaller company, which may lack the scale, resources, and size for dedicated security teams that multi-national corporations have, a minor oversight can be far more costly.

The recent efforts that Singapore has put in to counter this trend then appear as timely. For example, the Cyber Security Agency (CSA) has intensified public education campaigns, ensured that private and public organisations have the tools to manage risks, and advising companies to vet third party vendors more strictly — particularly those handling data or providing software-as-a-service solutions. 

Yet, despite these efforts, the core challenge remains: technology is moving faster than security culture. Many breaches don’t stem from sophisticated attacks, but from basic oversights — misconfigured databases, weak or reused passwords, delayed software updates, and over-permissioned user accounts. These vulnerabilities are entirely preventable, yet persist across industries and borders.

The promise of technology has been speed, connectivity, scale, and new ways of experiencing the world. However, recent headlines are a reminder that progress without caution can be costly. In a world where even the most reputable firms can be compromised and where billions of credentials can leak without immediate detection, cybersecurity can no longer be treated as a sidecar to innovation. It must be woven into every level of digital infrastructure, regardless of the size and industry of the company. 

The question now is whether businesses will be able to do so in time.