Cybercriminals continue to prey on online banking

MANILA, Philippines — Online banking remains a hard target for cyber-attackers in Asia-Pacific, cloud security solutions leader Trend Micro said.

Online banking attacks, ransomware and malware incidents have all prominently spiked in the region, as Asia-Pacific has consistently ranked as the most targeted for cyber-attacks, it added.

The company’s most recent security report revealed 35.7 percent of all ransomware detections were from Asia-Pacific while Europe, Middle East and Africa came at a far second with 25.24 percent, followed by Latin America (22.66 percent) and North America (15.71 percent).

Online banking malware detected and blocked by the Trend Micro network was at 118,193, and 47 million malicious online mobile apps were reportedly downloaded by Asia-Pacific users. The company also noted 436 million malware detections, which were notably high in Japan, Australia and Taiwan.

Trend Micro attributes Asia-Pacific’s standing to a number of factors, including un-updated systems and even 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 chalked up over $4 billion in financial and economic losses from WannaCry in the early part of the year. The ransomware attack infected over 300,000 machines worldwide and was then followed by Petya, another ransomware attack.

“Asia-Pacific 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, Trend Micro senior director for Asia-Pacific and 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.