WEF Global Cybersecurity Outlook 2026: East Asia and Pacific regional analysis

In two minutes

• The document is a three-page regional extract of the Global Cybersecurity Outlook 2026 (GCO 2026) survey, covering East Asia and Pacific against global and other regional figures.
• On AI, 95% of regional organizations expect AI and machine learning to have the greatest impact on cybersecurity in the next 12 months, and 79% say AI-related risks increased in the past year (globally 87%).
• 75% of regional organizations have a process to assess the security of AI tools before deployment, behind only North America (78%). Data leaks are the most pressing generative AI concern, cited by 42% (globally 34%).
• 81% use AI-enabled tools for cybersecurity (globally 77%). The main hurdles are insufficient skills (57%) and an unclear business case (51%).
• Software vulnerability exploitation and ransomware are the top two cyber risk concerns, and 79% report an increase in phishing and related attacks (global average 77%).
• On resilience, 66% say they meet minimum requirements, 16% say it is insufficient and 18% say it exceeds needs. The top challenge is the fast-changing threat and technology picture (62%), then third-party and supply chain weakness (48%).
• 44% lack the skills needed for current cyber goals (globally 50%). Threat intelligence analyst is the most critical missing role, named by 27%.
• In the supply chain, 67% assess supplier maturity and 60% involve security in procurement. Only 64% adapted strategy to geopolitical change, yet 62% weigh geopolitically motivated attacks in mitigation.

Key numbers

• 75%: Regional organizations with a process to assess AI tool security before deployment (North America 78%) (p. 1).
• 81%: Regional organizations that have implemented AI-enabled cybersecurity tools (globally 77%) (p. 1).
• 42%: Respondents citing data leaks as the most pressing generative AI security issue (globally 34%) (p. 1).
• 47%: Organizations confident in their country's ability to respond to a major critical infrastructure incident (global average 37%) (p. 1 and p. 2).
• 79%: Organizations reporting an increase in phishing and related attacks (global average 77%) (p. 1 and p. 2).
• 16%: Organizations saying their cyber resilience is insufficient (globally 17%) (p. 1 and p. 2).
• 44%: Organizations lacking the workforce skills for current cybersecurity objectives (globally 50%) (p. 1 and p. 3).
• 67%: Organizations assessing their suppliers' security maturity (p. 3).

What to do with it

• Compare your pre-deployment review of AI tools with the regional figure of 75%, and consider a periodic review if you only check once, as the document's chart separates the two.
• Treat data leakage as a first-order generative AI risk when scoping AI tool assessments, since 42% of regional respondents name it as the most pressing issue.
• If you are adopting AI for security, plan for the two hurdles the document names: skills (57%) and a clear business case (51%).
• Review supply chain controls against the three top regional risks: inheritance, procurement and visibility or concentration. The mitigations listed are supplier maturity assessments (67%) and security involvement in procurement (60%).
• Check whether the roles you are missing match the regional picture, where threat intelligence analyst is named most often (27%).

Read the full document if

• you run security in East Asia and Pacific and want regional figures set beside global averages.
• you need quick survey figures on AI tool vetting, AI adoption in security and supply chain practices.
• you are preparing a board or planning paper and want regional survey percentages with the global comparison.

What it relies on

The figures come from the GCO 2026 survey, which the document cites without describing it. This extract gives no sample size, respondent profile, survey period or method, so those details sit in the full global report it points to (wef.ch/cybersecurity26) and a Data Explorer. The document states that some charts exceed 100% because of multiple-choice questions and rounding. It reports self-reported views, not measured outcomes. The publisher is the World Economic Forum. The text does not recommend any product or service.

Our read

A short regional reference. It is useful for seeing where East Asia and Pacific sits against global and other regional survey answers on AI, resilience, skills and supply chain. It offers little method detail and no guidance beyond the figures, so use the full report for sample and method.