Proofpoint to launch AI data center in Singapore
The forthcoming data centre underscores Proofpoint’s long-term commitment to its business and ongoing investment in the region, delivering market-leading, human-centric cybersecurity solutions.
Singapore is already home more than 85 data centers and 39 data center providers, with the figure expected to grow in the months and years to come to cater to growing demand. While most of the data centers cater to a variety of services, there are also those that are dedicated specifically to certain industries.
For example, some of the new data centers being built in the country are expected to be used specifically for AI development and support. These data centers require more power to meet the compute need to process AI workloads and applications. Apart from that, the hyperscalers and cloud service providers are also developing modern data centers to meet customer demand for cloud services and such.
There is also a need for data centers that address cybersecurity risks. As such, Proofpoint recently announced at GovWare 2024 that it plans to establish a new data center in Singapore in 2025. Complying with local data residency policies, the data center will serve customers in Singapore while benefitting from Proofpoint’s market-leading, human-centric cybersecurity solutions to fight advanced threats, including ransomware, business email compromise (BEC) and social engineering.
The new data center is expected to help organizations in Singapore address human-centric cybersecurity risks, providing the opportunity to benefit from Proofpoint’s threat protection solutions, running through an in-country data centre. In fact, the Proofpoint Threat Protection is the only AI/ML-powered, multi-layered threat protection platform that disarms today's advanced attacks, including email fraud, ransomware, weaponised URLs, credential phishing and other forms of social engineering.
According to George Lee, Senior Vice President for Asia Pacific and Japan at Proofpoint, as Singapore confronts an increasingly complex threat landscape driven by cloud adoption, remote work, and rapid digitalization, the primary focus is providing human-centric cybersecurity solutions.
“With the surge in data generation and the tightening of data residency regulations, protecting sensitive information has never been more crucial. As cyberattacks become more sophisticated, businesses must adopt multi-layered, cloud-native security to protect both people and data from emerging threats, while ensuring that information remains securely within the country,” said Lee.
Taking a deeper look at Singapore’s evolving cyber threat landscape, CISOs in Singapore continue to fear cyber-attacks. However, they are demonstrating increasing confidence in their ability to defend against them.
According to Proofpoint’s 2024 Voice of the CISO Report, more than two-thirds (64%) of CISOs in Singapore feel prepared to cope with a cyberattack, an increase from 45% last year. As expected, human error remains the top concern for CISOs, with 67% citing this as their biggest vulnerability. Interestingly, a majority (86%) of CISOs are also looking to deploy AI-powered capabilities to help protect against human error and advanced human-centered cyber threats.
With the new data center, organizations in Singapore will have broader compliance options as the facility will complement Proofpoint’s existing facilities. The new location is also set to be Proofpoint’s 28th data centre worldwide, underpinning Proofpoint’s ongoing investment in the Asia Pacific region, following the launch of the Australian data centre in 2023. Proofpoint established its regional headquarters for the Asia Pacific region in Singapore in 2010 and has significantly expanded its local presence.