Number of Online Threats Increased in the Philippines in 2019

When it comes to cryptocurrency malware and ransomware, Kaspersky said such threats have decreased by the end of 2019.

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March 4, 2020 – Cybersecurity firm Kaspersky reported that it had monitored and prevented around 28 million Internet-originating attacks against users in the Philippines in 2019.

The number of web threat detections in 2019 has increased in the Philippines, in a report published by Kaspersky. The Philippines currently ranks 4th worldwide when it comes to the number of web threats detected last year at 44%. Only Nepal, Algeria, and Albania ranked higher. Trailing the Philippines is Djibouti at 5th.

Also, of those 44%, 26.62% are threats to individual users while 7.58% to business users.

While the Philippines ranked 4th globally, it ranked 1st in Southeast Asia.

Attacks are said to originate a lot via a browser attack, like when a user visited an infected website that installs malware opening the said website. Another is through social engineering, where a hacker will disguise as the user’s friend, family, relative, or even IT support, and the convinces the user to share their personal information.

Another popular attack is through a browser extension.

Local threats are still rampant, and the Philippines ranks 61st in a worldwide ranking for countries with local infections. A local infection is when the malware is spread through USBs, CDs, basically any other “offline methods.”

When it comes to cryptocurrency malware and ransomware, Kaspersky said such threats have decreased by the end of 2019.

It was in 2018 when Kaspersky reported that most attacks in the Philippines are related to cryptomining. Data sent by Kaspersky Lab revealed 10.6 million web malware infections in the Philippines for the 2nd quarter of 2018. This is twice the number from the 1st quarter (5.6 million) and a massive increase from the same quarter in 2017.

Cyber-threats are a hotly debated topic that often divides opinion between personal and organizational damage. According to a Microsoft-shared Intelligence report, the Philippines experiences malware 124% higher than the global average and 63% higher than the Asia Pacific.

Source: Kaspersky via Manila Standard, GMA News

This article is published on BitPinas: Number of Online Threats Increased in the Philippines in 2019


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