Palo Alto Networks expands cloud infrastructure in Asia-Pacific

Cybersecurity vendor Palo Alto Networks (PAN) said it is investing in new cloud infrastructure across the Asia-Pacific and Japan, in order to integrate its secure access service edge (SASE) browser in the regional markets.

The cybersecurity company announced that that investment is to integrate its Prisma Access Browser into existing infrastructure in Australia, India, Indonesia, Japan and Singapore.

The Prisma Access Browser is a SASE-native secure browser, which PAN said is powered by the security vendors Precision AI technology to protect against web-based threats and malware.

In comparison, traditional web browsers face vulnerabilities including phishing attacks, account takeovers, malware infections and malicious extensions.

Anupam Upadhyaya, vice president product for Prisma SASE at Palo Alto Networks, explained that unmanaged devices are often the weakest link in an organisation's security posture, especially as organisations increasingly embrace a distributed workforce model.

"Many organisations have reported significant gaps in their ability to decrypt network traffic for security purposes; on average, 64 per cent of web traffic is left encrypted, and is therefore unavailable for security," Upadhyaya added.

The expansion aims to help organisations meet local data residency requirements while maintaining robust security and performance standards.

PAN's investment comes as browsers increasingly become the central platform for work activities.

Analyst firm Gartner predicts that by 2030, enterprise browsers will form the core platform for delivering workforce productivity and security software.

These security challenges have been amplified by the widespread adoption of software-as-a-service (SaaS) and generative AI applications, alongside the growing use of unmanaged devices in workplaces.

"Organisations across the Asia-Pacific and Japan region are increasingly moving their workloads to the cloud," Simon Green, president of Asia-Pacific and Japan at Palo Alto Networks, said.

"Expanding our cloud security presence to Asia-Pacific and Japan is part of our ongoing commitment to provide customers with localised access to best-in-class cybersecurity offerings that help meet their data residency needs," Green added.