Newly released insights from cybersecurity company Kaspersky have revealed its users in the Philippines received repeated attacks from threats through removable drives and infected websites in 2022 compared to 2021.
The same data from Kaspersky Security Network (KSN) revealed that the country moved two places up, ranking second among countries most attacked by Web threats worldwide within January to December last year.
The 2022 global ranking is topped by Mongolia (51.1%), followed by the Philippines (49.8%), Ukraine (49.6%), Greece (49.5%), and Belarus (49.1%).
The ranking is based on the number of Web-based cyberthreats detected and blocked by Kaspersky products. Based on the report, a single device can frequently be targeted by cybercriminals and subjected to multiple attacks.
Attempts of local malware spread through removable drives such as USB sticks dropped from 35,825,044 in 2021 to 25,060,519 in 2022. This placed the Philippines in the 72nd spot worldwide, two notches down from its 70th rank a year ago.
According to the KSN report, worms and file viruses accounted for the majority of such incidents that were detected and blocked by Kaspersky products in devices of its Filipino customers.
The KSN report showed cybercriminals tried to penetrate systems through attacks via browsers. Detected and foiled incidents by Kaspersky plunged from 50,544,908 to 39,387,052. Drive-by downloads and social engineering are the favorite attack methods used by cyber attackers to spread malware on their victims.
A drive-by download attack is when a user visits a website and unintentionally downloads a malicious code while a social engineering attack is when a user downloads malware but was made to believe it’s a legitimate program.
If a company employee connects to an unsecured WiFi network or visits a non-work-related website, such actions could result in disastrous and costly damage to company data.
“I would always insist for any business that’s new, or qualifies as a small and medium enterprise to have basic protection from the get-go. Secure the endpoint and then have encryption in place,” said Chris Connell, managing director for Asia Pacific at Kaspersky.
“As you expand, spending on the business and security should be in lockstep. It’s pointless to build a business that is not protected because once you’re compromised, it is costly to repair the damage. At the very least, it could look like losing opportunities for your business because of lost customer trust.”
Added Connell: “In the Philippines, businesses continue to flourish despite the challenges. We have seen how adversity, such as the pandemic, hastened the digital transformation among local businesses and customers alike.
“In the same vein, cybercriminals saw it as an opportunity to take advantage of the cybersecurity weaknesses of those jumping on the digital wave. As the country moves towards sustaining its recovery, I hope Filipino businesses will be as aggressive in protecting their devices and their data as cybercriminals are persistent in preying on them.”
