PH cyberdefenses building up; attacks down in 2023

MANILA, Philippines  —Cybersecurity firm Kaspersky noted that fewer Filipinos online were targeted by web threats last year but it warned that cybercriminals will remain persistent in launching their attacks, reminding them to always be on alert.

Last year, 48 percent of Filipinos online dealt with cyberincidents—mainly phishing and drive-by downloads—slightly fewer than the 49.8 percent in 2022 as cyberdefenses continue to build up.

But even with the decline, the latest Kaspersky Security Network report showed that the Philippines still ranked 4th globally in terms of most number of online threats in 2023, albeit down from 2nd place in the previous report.

Leading the list was Mongolia with 51.8 percent, Moldova with 48.9 percent and Greece with 48.8 percent. Trailing behind the Philippines and completing the top 5 was Kazakhstan with 47.7 percent.

READ: PH second most vulnerable in region to cyberthreats

In Southeast Asia, however, the Philippines topped the list, followed by Malaysia (38.7 percent), Vietnam (34 percent), Indonesia (31.4 percent) and Singapore (30.7 percent).

Blocking phishing attempts

Yeo Siang Tiong, general manager for Southeast Asia at Kaspersky, said the slight improvement in the numbers could mean that the country’s efforts in strengthening cyberdefenses were beginning to pay off.

READ: Philippines wards off cyber attacks from China-based hackers

“First is that we see the country is slowly making headway in cybersecurity,” he noted.

For example, the country’s biggest telecommunication players have been ramping up their initiatives to block billions of phishing attempts, especially in the advent of text scams. These fraudulent activities lure unsuspecting users into providing sensitive information that cyberhackers can use to take over their bank and e-wallet accounts, among others.

Filipinos are also being hit by drive-by download attacks, which happen when users visit a website and accidentally download malicious software.

“We classify the Philippines to be in the intermediate group of countries that are identifying cyberattacks and making efforts to implement rules,” Yeo said. INQ