890% surge in generative AI traffic raises new security concerns | Frontier Enterprise

Generative AI traffic surged by 890% in 2024, driven by the rapid adoption of generative AI tools in enterprise environments, according to a report from Palo Alto Networks.

Data for this report was derived from Palo Alto Networks’ analysis of generative AI traffic across a global customer base of 7,051 organisations throughout 2024.

While AI growth offers significant productivity benefits, the report warns that unsanctioned usage, emerging threats, and a lack of governance have rapidly expanded the attack surface for organisations, particularly across the Asia-Pacific and Japan region.

The widespread adoption of generative AI is outpacing many organisations’ ability to implement appropriate security controls. On average, organisations are now managing 66 generative AI applications in their environments, with 10% classified as high-risk.

Palo Alto Networks said Singapore is reinforcing its role as a regional leader in cybersecurity and AI, driven by strong government leadership and a digital-first economy. As one of the pioneers in outlining AI governance principles, Singapore continues to raise the bar for digital trust. 

The nation is investing in key areas of AI excellence to tackle global challenges while enabling individuals, businesses, and communities to confidently embrace AI for inclusive growth and long-term resilience.

Tom Scully, director and principal architect for government and critical industries at Palo Alto Networks in Asia-Pacific and Japan, said they are seeing an expanding attack surface, particularly with the use of high-risk generative AI applications in critical infrastructure sectors.

“Organisations must balance innovation with strong governance, 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,” said Scully. “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.”

The report finds that generative AI traffic increased more than 890% in 2024. Following the release of DeepSeek-R1 in January 2025, DeepSeek-related traffic alone spiked by 1,800% within two months.

Generative AI-related data loss prevention (DLP) incidents more than doubled, now accounting for 14% of all data security incidents.

Unauthorised, unsanctioned generative AI use, termed “Shadow AI”, has created blind spots for IT and security teams, making it difficult to control sensitive data flows.

Many high-risk AI models remain susceptible to jailbreak attacks that produce unsafe content, including offensive material and instructions for illegal activities.

Technology and manufacturing sectors alone account for 39% of AI coding transactions, creating additional risk for industries that depend on proprietary intellectual property.

The top three generative AI applications used by organisations in Singapore are Microsoft Power Apps (36.83%), Grammarly (27.23%) and OpenAI/ChatGPT (20.95%).

“The use of generative AI in the workplace is no longer optional, it’s already happening,” said Steven Scheurmann, regional VP for ASEAN at Palo Alto Networks. 

“In Singapore, as businesses rapidly adopt generative AI tools—and with governance frameworks and models being established—a secure-by-design approach is essential to ensure sensitive data is protected, public trust is maintained, and innovation can scale safely,” said Scheurmann.