Synology says Malaysian SMEs encountering growing data and security risks amidst digital push

According to the Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) Association of Malaysia, SMEs are accelerating their use of digital tools to grow their operations but are reactively encountering cybersecurity risks with outcomes often constrained by budgetary constraints and limited expertise.

These incidents are often swept under the carpet due to competing operational priorities until a crisis happens and unfortunately, there were multiple such incidents that occurred in Malaysia. Rather than being isolated incidents, cybercrime is a clear and present danger that can drastically affect business continuity.

According to official figures from CyberSecurity Malaysia, there were more than 6,200 cybercrime incidents in 2024, averaging 16 a day with losses exceeding RM1.22 billion. In the first 9 months of 2025, 5,735 cybercrime incidents were reported, marking an increase of 1,000 cases over the same period the year prior with losses amounting to over RM700 million worldwide. 

“Businesses today rely on accounting systems, customer databases, e-commerce platforms and shared digital workspaces, often spread across devices, cloud services and external vendors,” said Jason Sin, Synology Malaysia Country Manager. “As data volumes grow, this fragmentation increases operational risk, particularly when there is no clear ownership or structure around how data is stored and protected.” 

Jason Sin, Country Manager of Synology Inc

Sin added that many SMEs are cognisant of the risks but often operate under the premise that effective data protection requires significant investment. After extensive interaction with SMEs not just in Malaysia but the world over, there is an emerging interest in more robust, easy-to-deploy on-site systems that allow SMEs to consolidate data, manage access and support routine backup and recovery. 

According to Synology, ease of implementation is a key factor especially for data recovery and protection systems for smaller organisations who lack specialised IT teams. Another key factor in deploying such systems is the emerging need for data resilience where reliable and effective data recovery is critical in common scenarios such as accidental deletion, hardware failure or ransomware attacks to ensure business continuity.

“Data resilience is no longer just a technical consideration. It is part of business continuity and governance,” Sin said. “The challenge for SMEs is finding approaches that are proportionate to their scale and resources.” For more on Synology check out https://www.synology.com/en-my