THE Asia Pacific is now the most targeted region in cyber-attacks.
The region accounted for 35.7% of all ransomware detections for the first half of the year alone. EMEA came at a far second with 25.24%, followed by Latin America (22.66%) and North America (15.71%).
According to cloud security solutions leader Trend Micro, the Asia Pacific region has consistently ranked as the most targeted across multiple threat categories.
From ransomware to malware to online banking attacks, the region has claimed the highest vulnerability.
Trend Micro attributes APAC’s standing to a number of factors, including unpatched or un-updated legacy systems, as well as computing habits that allow the transfer of malware. The region is also a major hub of transnational enterprises, and is often used as a stepping stone to other targets.
Global businesses batted as much as $4 billion in financial and economic losses from WannaCry alone, a ransomware attack that infected over 300,000 machines worldwide. Petya, another ransomware, had businesses and organizations reeling just a month later making estimated financial losses much higher.
Trend Micro detected and blocked 82 million ransomware threats for the first half of 2017. The company also noted 436 million malware detections, which were notably high in Japan, Australia and Taiwan.
APAC also took the lead in online banking malware detected and blocked at 118,193, and 47 million malicious online mobile apps were downloaded by APAC users.
“APAC was targeted by threats and cyberattacks disproportionately in the first half of the year. Companies in the region need to better understand cyberattacks and prioritize funds accordingly for effective security,” said Richard Sheng, Senior Director, Alliances and Strategic Channels, Trend Micro Asia Pacific & Middle East Africa.
Other cyber-attacks from the first half of the year came from Business Email Compromise (BEC) scams, where emails may be infected with malware or used by cybercriminals to dupe recipients into a con.
Cyberpropaganda, where the internet is used to sway perception and public opinion, has also become prevalent. Trend Micro noted in their research on Chinese, Russian, Middle Eastern, and English-based underground markets that these now offer tools for creating content, boosting social media reach or even influencing online polls with vote buying. Fake news is one of the glaring examples of cyberpropaganda.
To know more about Trend Micro’s 2017 Midyear Security Roundup: The Cost of Compromise, visit: https://www.trendmicro.com/vinfo/us/security/research-and-analysis/threat-reports/roundup.
