The Asia-Pacific (Apac) region remains the biggest target in attacks from cyber-criminals across multiple threat categories spanning from ransomware to malicious software (malware) to online-banking attacks, according to cloud-security solutions major Trend Micro.
In its Mid-Year Security Roundup, the company reported that from January to June this year, Apac accounted for 35.7 percent of all ransomware detections. Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) came at a far second with 25.24 percent, followed by Latin America (22.66 percent) and North America (15.71 percent).
“Apac was targeted by threats and cyber attacks disproportionately in the first half of the year. Companies in the region need to better understand cyber attacks and prioritize funds accordingly for effective security,” said Richard Sheng, senior director of Alliances and Strategic Channels, Trend Micro Asia Pacific and Middle East Africa, in a recent news briefing held in Makati City.
Sheng said Apac has been a top magnet for several reasons, such as unpatched or un-updated legacy systems, as well as computing habits that allow the transfer of malware. Being a major hub of multinational companies, Sheng said Apac is often used as a springboard by cybercriminals to attack other targets. 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.
The impact of cybercrimes has wrought havoc to financial markets around the world. Trend Micro reported that global businesses bled 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, delivered crucial blows to businesses and organizations that were still reeling 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. The security company also reported that other cyber attacks from the first half of the year came from Business Email Compromise (BEC) scams, where e-mails may be infected with malware or used by cybercriminals to dupe recipients into a con.
The company also noted the rise in the use of cyber propaganda to sway public opinion and perception. According to their research, Trend Micro found out that Chinese, Russian, Middle Eastern and English-based underground markets 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 cyber propaganda.
“Based on the insights we gather, our team has been continually constructing a comprehensive threat intelligence database and innovating new products that can respond to the growing threats. That’s why we have started incorporating machine learning-based smart detection technology into all our solutions and gleaned good results,” Sheng added.
In her media presentation, Myla Pilao, director of Trend Labs Research of Trend Micro, identified that malware, malicious mobile apps, exploit kits and online mobile-banking malware were the biggest security threats in the first half of 2017.
Pilao said malware infections became a serious threat due to unsecured systems, particularly those with unpatched vulnerabilities. She said malicious mobile fake apps have lured users by using popular titles to entice users.
The availability of exploit kits, also known as hacking toolkits, has made lifer easier for cybercriminals to use these in their various nefarious infection campaigns. Meanwhile, online-banking malware has been creating havoc by delivering banking-related threats that target user credentials. Pilao said tackling ransomware is more challenging these days because it is hard-hitting, diverse and targeted. “The increasing abuse of legitimate system components and remote administration tools, going fileless and its worm-like propagation like WannaCry and Petya are the big elements to hurdle when you are tackling ransomware,” she said.
“Every organization, regardless of size, is an attractive to threat actors and cybercriminals because of the information—customer information, proprietary information [crown jewels], etc.—that may be obtained from them. These threat actors then look for entry points, such as vulnerable/unpatched customer-facing web properties or through social engineering tactics targeting employees,” Pilao added.
She said there were 2.3 million detections of DocDrop DOWNAD and WannaCry in the Philippines, and noted that 6.6 million of malicious mobile apps were downloaded by users in the Philippines. Malicious apps leverage mobile games’ popularity (e.g., Pokémon Go, Super Mario Run, and other fake apps). She said there’s a need to craft a new concept in defense to handle the new challenges in the threat landscape.
Meanwhile, the company has released Trend XGe security, its latest class of security software to address the full range of digital threats. With over 1,000 researchers and engineers around the world and the cloud-based global threat intelligence of the Trend Micro Smart Protection Network, the company remains committed to enabling faster and better protection against cyber threats.