About 33 per cent of Asia manufacturers said their organisations' top security executive now reports directly to the CEO.

The research firm also notes that three quarters of the manufacturers in this region are very or extremely confident that the information held by their organisations is protected from external (77.8 per cent) and internal (69.4 per cent) attacks.

"The disconnect between perception and reality suggests that Asia Pacific manufacturers are not as aware of their security risks and threats as they think," said Dr William Lee, senior research manager, IDC Manufacturing Insights Asia Pacific says. "Clearly, manufacturers in this region need to step up their awareness programmes to get up to speed on their knowledge of the security risks and counter-measures that exist today."

"Moving ahead, manufacturers should align their security strategies with business goals and direction to reduce the potential damage and loss caused by security attacks," added Dr. Lee.