Exclusive Networks foresees continuous growth in Malaysia

Yuri Zaharin, Country Manager for Malaysia, shares how they work with partners to help customers of all sizes have the right cybersecurity solutions.

Increasing cybercrime has led to organizations taking a more serious approach in their cybersecurity posture as well. Today, companies are challenged not just by cyberthreats like phishing, but are also challenged with shadow AI, as more employees continue to use AI apps for work.

In Malaysia, industry experts at the Cybersecurity Summit 2025 highlighted the "serious risks" posed by GenAI. In the first quarter of 2025, MyCERT revealed a nearly 29% increase in data breach incidents, compared to the previous quarter, with attackers increasingly combining data theft with ransom-driven extortion.

Speaking exclusively to CRN Asia, Yuri Zaharin, Country Manager for Malaysia at Exclusive Networks stated the government is already doing its best through the many initiatives that they’ve announced.

However, he is concerned if these initiatives are implemented properly. Most organizations in Malaysia, especially the mid-market companies and SMBs, continue to be the ones always targeted and end up having a lot of cybersecurity cases. These organizations often lack expertise and also the budget to ensure they are well secured against threats.

“We do have quite a number of SMB end users. And we have partners who manage that part of the segment. We try to make sure that our partners who are handling the SMBs are well trained, and they can give the right advice to these guys as well. Of course, their budget is small. And unfortunately, sometimes they may not have one particular head for IT. So, in those situations, we would recommend that maybe they work with certain organizations (MSPs). There are many services here,” added Zaharin.

Meeting the budget

Increasing investment in cybersecurity is not a cheap process. Larger organizations and board members today understand the importance of increasing the cybersecurity budget. For Exclusive Networks, it’s all about making sure organizations are aware of what are the vulnerabilities their organizations may have.

“It's essential that even board members understand. They do not need to be an IT expert, but at least the concepts of what is required and what is needed to protect. They can then remind the CEO or the management team of what's important. A lot of times, when reports of a cybersecurity incident reach the board, it's way too late. Also, companies need to look at the lessons they’ve learned whenever they resolve a breach. And this is something that board members should hold the team accountable for,” said Zaharin.

Zaharin also mentioned that as a value-added distributor, they try their best to cater to the budget of organizations.

“All the brands we carry will have lower versions, and everything based on features and such. Our resellers will advise the end user what the critical loopholes are, and these are the areas which they should first focus on. Based on that, we'll try to adjust the pricing for other areas, and we'll work with our partners on that,” explained Zaharin.

Zaharin also stated that partners will share the company’s budget, and we’ll advise them on what is the best option available for them.

“For Exclusive Networks right now, we work together with our partners. We educate the partners, give advice to the partners, and the partners will flow back to the same thing. Our partners are very well trained. They'll come back to us and how they can upgrade or even downgrade to a lower budget, to meet the customer’s budget,” added Zaharin,

For Zaharin, while the margins are lower with a customer with a smaller budget, it's still a good opportunity for them as they can leverage the regional network to cater to the customer’s needs, especially for more complex organizations.

“The other good thing about Exclusive Network is that, because we are a global company, we do have Malaysian organizations who deploy worldwide. We recently had two deals, where one deployment was in the region while the other one was in Europe. As far as the customer is concerned, they want us to deploy this in a specific country, and we do it for them. We'll settle all the importation, the taxes, which can be a headache. And we'll make sure it's safely deployed,” said Zaharin.

AI in cybersecurity

Another area which Zaharin feels needs to be addressed is the lack of cybersecurity talent in organizations today. While this is a challenge not just in Malaysia but globally as well, Zaharin pointed out that AI could be an answer to solve the problem, but only if the system is well trained to deal with the problem.

“All AIs have to be trained first. So, you need to make sure the data integrity of the AI is there because then it falls back to a few different things. First, where do you get your data? So, there's only one loophole if something is not right there. And the second one is who monitors the integrity of the data because as the AI evolves, it learns more things and new things. Someone also has to monitor this. So, there's a bit of human presence required,” explained Zaharin.

Zaharin also mentioned that some of the vendors that Exclusive Networks carry does have AI-based solutions. These vendors have developed these solutions for some time and it's already been trained in their systems.

“So, we try to carry the best that is available in the market. And a lot of things these AI solutions do is not just monitor what's happening now, and they try to track back. When the track happens, how far does it go? The track could actually be in the system many months ago. And they try to track back that will give the customer the information,” he said.

Zaharin also pointed out that cybercriminals are using AI, whereby the intruder AI will also be aware of a defender against AI and how it can go around it.

“Most of the solutions that Exclusive Networks carries and provides, we have to make sure those companies are in step. I mean, they will also take the latest intrusion system and study it. It's almost like a flu virus. You get a virus, analyse the virus, and what is the cure? And once you have a cure, the virus also will evolve into another variant which is happening now. And I don't foresee that it will ever stop. I know it sounds scary, and it is meant to be scary because if no one takes it seriously, there’s just so much at risk,” said Zaharin.

Given these need to be constantly updated with the latest cybersecurity capabilities, Zaharin added that Exclusive Networks also ensures its partners and end users are updated with all the latest patches and requirements.

Plans in 2026

Looking into 2026, Zaharin believes that Exclusive Networks has a strong growth opportunity in the country, with the support of the vendors and their partners.

“Cybersecurity is a never stopping, escalating war. We'll have a role to play. And as the business expands, Malaysia now is looking into data centers and more AI investments. The government is supporting AI a lot. And we've become a well-known hub for semiconductors, and industries that's developing. So, as these grow, we will also grow with them. That's for sure. And we are more than happy to support and give our advice and consultancy to these organizations,” said Zaharin.

With more companies understanding the importance of cybersecurity, Zaharin believes there is still a lot they can do to enable companies to enhance their cybersecurity posture, no matter how big they are.