Kaspersky has registered key cybersecurity areas to watch out for in 2021 in Southeast Asia (SEA).
Perimeter security is going to be a significant area of concern as citizens continue to work remotely.
With Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines set to hold elections, Kaspersky believes the region holds the potential to become hotbeds for disinformation campaigns and various tactics will be utilised by various stakeholders.
The 5G rollout will also be a trend to look out for as this opens various chances for potential attacks to surface. This will be due to the focus of 5G being on software rather than hardware and software is more accessible and generally easier to discover vulnerabilities.
The health sector as a cyber target is a global trend as well. In 2020, the development caused by Covid-19 surged the attacks in the vaccine research field. Cybercriminals are expected to target patients’ health data as the numbers keep piling in enabled by remote health monitoring solutions by health consultors.
Additionally, Kaspersky has been observing a reduction in ransomware attacks in SEA recently. However, data also highlights ransomware becoming more sophisticated and targeted.
The first-ever death related to the malware was witnessed in Germany. This activity will likely increase in 2021 because of the potential targets in the region.
More companies are incorporating cloud into their business models due to the convenience and scalability they offer. However, this expands the attack surface as more businesses come on board. There might be a greater number of breaches on such infrastructure if companies make rookie mistakes.
SEA on the other hand has also been hit the worst in terms of Industrial Control Systems (ICS) as per several ratings.
However, this trend is more focused on by the governments in the region like Malaysia and the Philippines. Malaysia has dedicated RM1.8 billion for its national cybersecurity and the Philippines has adopted a strategy to partner with the private sector.
“2020 have seen the adoption of technology, and an increase in attack surface. This measures for more potential in security breaches,”
“Social engineering remained to be one of the most effective attack vectors, education, and awareness is needed to counter such attacks,” said Muhammad Umair, Security Researcher for Global Research and Analysis Team (GReAT) Asia Pacific at Kaspersky.
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