The Asia-Pacific and Japan (APJ) experienced a staggering 890% surge in Generative AI (GenAI) traffic in 2024, driven by the rapid adoption of GenAI tools in enterprise environments, according to Palo Alto Networks’ latest State of Generative AI 2025 report.
In Singapore, the top three GenAI applications used by organisations are Microsoft Power Apps(36.83%), Grammarly (27.23%), and OpenAI/ChatGPT (20.95%).
Expanding attack surface
Along with the increasing use of genAI comes an expanding attack surface and a rise in data loss incidents. Derived from analysis of GenAI traffic across a global customer base of 7,051 organisations throughout 2024, the report cited that GenAI-related data loss prevention (DLP) incidents more than doubled, accounting for 14% of all data security incidents.
Moreover, unauthorised, unsanctioned GenAI use, termed “Shadow AI”, has created blind spots for IT and security teams, making it challenging to control sensitive data flows.
“AI adoption offers transformative opportunities across both commercial and government sectors in the region. But as this report highlights, we are also seeing an expanding attack surface, particularly with the use of high-risk GenAI applications in critical infrastructure sectors,” said Tom Scully, director and principal architect for Government and Critical Industries, Asia Pacific & Japan, at Palo Alto Networks.
Balancing innovation and governance
Scully reminds organisations to balance innovation with strong governance by adopting security architectures that account for AI’s unique risks.
“From shadow AI and data leakage to the more complex threats posed by agentic AI models. Proactive oversight and adaptive security controls are essential to ensuring that the benefits of AI are fully realised without compromising national security, public trust, or operational integrity,” Scully said.
