Cybersecurity in Southeast Asia is at an alarming level.

In 2024, Kaspersky's enterprise security solutions successfully blocked over half a million attempts to access phishing links on business devices in the region.

Financial phishing is a type of attack that directly targets banks, payment systems, and online retailers. Attackers design fake websites with interfaces mimicking reputable payment platforms, aiming to trick users into revealing their financial information.

Kaspersky revealed that over 500,000 phishing attacks targeted businesses in Southeast Asia in 2024.

Yeo Siang Tiong, General Manager of Kaspersky Southeast Asia, stated: "Based on the number of attacks on business devices detected by Kaspersky solutions, we see the cybersecurity situation in Southeast Asia as alarming. With the digital economy projected to reach $1 trillion by 2030, this region will become a 'hot spot' for cybercriminals to take full advantage of the rapid digital transformation and carry out illegal activities. Therefore, businesses in Southeast Asia need to be especially cautious and vigilant."

From January to December 2024, Kaspersky recorded and blocked a total of 534,759 financial fraud attacks targeting businesses in Southeast Asia. These attacks, targeting businesses ranging from small enterprises to large corporations, were primarily carried out via email, fake websites, messaging apps, social media, and other methods.

In 2024, Thailand recorded the highest number of financial fraud attacks targeting businesses in the region with 247,560 cases, followed by Indonesia with 85,908 cases and Malaysia with 64,779 cases. Businesses in Vietnam also faced 59,450 attacks, while Singapore and the Philippines recorded fewer cases, with nearly 38,000 incidents each.

Mr. Yeo added: "The remarkable advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) are being exploited by cybercriminals to create more sophisticated fake websites than ever before. With the large number of fake websites, the risk of users falling victim to scams is higher than ever, while the use of AI to identify and prevent scams still faces many limitations. Furthermore, each business has different characteristics and understanding of cybersecurity, making it difficult to implement standardized security policies across the region. This inadvertently makes the region an attractive target for financial attacks. Therefore, businesses need to equip themselves with appropriate tools and update real-time threat intelligence to proactively respond and stay one step ahead of cybercriminals."

To minimize the risk of becoming a victim of scams, Kaspersky experts offer the following recommendations:

For individual users

• Only open emails and click on links from trusted senders.
• If you receive an email from a legitimate address but the content seems suspicious, contact the sender through another means of communication to verify.
• Double-check the spelling in a website's URL if you suspect it's a phishing site. Scammers often use misleading characters, such as replacing the letter "I" with "1" or "O" with "0".
• Use reputable security solutions when accessing the internet. These solutions have access to global threat intelligence data, helping to effectively detect and prevent phishing and spam campaigns.

For businesses

• Organize regular cybersecurity training courses for employees so they can recognize and detect early signs of cybercrime and fraud.
• Establish the first line of defense right at your company's email gateway. This helps prevent malicious links and attachments, even if employees still receive spam.
• Implement robust and flexible security solutions, integrating anti-phishing technology across all work devices to ensure maximum safety.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/an-ninh-mang-tai-dong-nam-ao-muc-dang-bao-dong-185250327141617084.htm