Cyberthreats hound PH companies

The Philippines is one of the three countries in Asia Pacific with the highest number of cyberthreats.

Latest data from global cybersecurity firm Kaspersky Lab showed that in the third quarter this year, 58 percent of users in the Philippines experienced local threats, referring to malicious software that penetrates computer systems using means other than the internet, e-mail or network ports.

These are often coursed  through removable media such as USBs and CDs as well as through the computer programs in an encrypted format.

Vietnam recorded the highest incidence at 64 percent, followed by India at 55 percent.

In the region, an average of 49 percent of users were reported to have encountered security incidents related to local networks and removable media, while 17 percent faced

cyberthreats that were blocked by Kaspersky Lab solutions.

These findings were disclosed by the Kaspersky Security Network (KSN) during the Cyber Security Weekend in Indonesia last week.

The KSN drew its statistics from Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam from July to September.

KSN data also showed that Australia and Singapore were among the least affected countries. Even then, 12 percent of users faced web incidents and roughly 30 percent were noted to have experienced local threats.

The biggest growth in the total number of cyber incidents detected by Kaspersky Lab’s products was registered in India, while the largest decrease was in Australia.

According to Kaspersky, the increase in the number of ransomware incidents reflected the global trend and that the Asia Pacific region is becoming a target for ransomware and cryptoware campaigns, making countries like the Philippines vulnerable to attacks.

Nicolas Collery, information security operations officer at the DBS Bank, noted during the forum last week that cybercriminals were mostly after money, and so banks and their customers are often targeted by them.

He added: “Though we do our job in securing the IT perimeter and transactions on our side, users still remain the weakest link. One of our aims is to make them well informed and cautious about the threats that vary from phishing letters to mobile banking Trojans.”