Why Cybersecurity is a Top Concern in Asia-Pacific Region?

As connectivity has improved over the past few years we have experienced better internet speed with a drop in the cost of the subscription. While access is still the primary concern for stakeholders, internet security is something which can’t be ignored in a world where people are connected. Globally, cybercrime is the core issue that needs to be addressed by government, followed by connectivity, data protection, and privacy.

The annual Kaspersky Lab Cyber Security Weekend for Asia Pacific Countries highlighted the current IT threats affecting the APAC region and sharing advice on how to mitigate them. Special attention was paid to financial threats that are on the rise globally and in APAC, posing a high risk to organizations and individuals.

“Understanding of computer attacks is crucial to prevent them. We spend all our time carefully analyzing, classifying and investigating attacks that expand in quantity, diversity, and complexity. With the support of our guests at the event, we hope to share our knowledge and expertise to all the people who need it, raise awareness of others and make this world a safe place. Confidential and personal data, finances and reputation of organizers as well as home users can be secured by their responsible attitude to IT, strong security solution and willingness to learn more,” said Vitaly Kamluk, Kaspersky Lab’s Director of Global Research and Analysis Team in APAC.

Kaspersky Security Network (KSN) cloud service statistics for July-September 2016 were unveiled at the event, showing that in selected Asia-Pacific countries (Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam), an average of 49% of users encountered security incidents related to local networks and removable media, and 17% of users faced web-related threats that were blocked by Kaspersky Lab solutions.

Vietnam, the Philippines, and India had the highest number of users who experienced local threat incidents (64%, 58% and 55% respectively), while China leads in web detections (24% of users), followed by Vietnam, India and Indonesia (23%, 18.5%, and 18.5%). Australia and Singapore were among the least affected countries, but they still saw around 12% of users facing web incidents and around 30% experiencing local threats. The largest 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.

The number of ransomware incidents detected in APAC soared in July and August compared to February and March (114%). The country with the largest number of ransomware infection attempts was India, followed by Vietnam. The increase in the number of ransomware incidents reflects the global trend. This also signals that the APAC region is becoming a target for ransomware and cryptoware campaigns.

Vitaly Kamluk gave an overview of the local threat landscape, current trends, and predictions, emphasizing how complex financial and targeted attacks have become. Seongsu Park, Senior Security Researcher at Kaspersky Lab, elaborated on the topic with his presentation about an eCommerce breach and the lessons that can be derived from it by businesses. Ruslan Stoyanov, Head of Computer Incidents Investigation at Kaspersky Lab, provided an insight into how a cybersecurity investigation is performed.

“Cybercriminals are mostly after money, so banks and their customers are often targeted by them. 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,” commented Nicolas Collery.

Special guests covered a range of important topics, including systematic security assessment, by Anton Bolshakov, Managing Consultant at IT Defence Asia; and key legal aspects in handling a cyber breach, presented by Lionel Tan, Partner at Rajah and Tann Singapore LLP, a law firm covering the APAC region. Nicolas Collery, Information Security Operations Officer at DBS bank, gave an overview of cybercrime from the perspective of a financial organization.

Adopting the right mix of laws and rules and creating the appropriate institutions and structure with clear guidance on cybersecurity is necessary to enhance digital security. To take the full advantage of the digital economy governments should come forward to create an environment of cooperation with relevant stakeholders.

Cyber threats present themselves in many shapes and magnitudes which make it necessary to establish a hierarchy of priorities — based on real-time risk assessment. In this case, policymakers have a key role to play in ensuring that both public and private entities are well equipped to face the challenges of the connected world.