{"id":42732,"date":"2021-04-20T13:19:30","date_gmt":"2021-04-20T05:19:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/?p=42732"},"modified":"2021-04-20T13:19:34","modified_gmt":"2021-04-20T05:19:34","slug":"ransomware-targeting-sea-smbs-drops-in-2020-vs-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/2021\/04\/20\/ransomware-targeting-sea-smbs-drops-in-2020-vs-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"Ransomware targeting SEA SMBs drops in 2020 vs 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Global cybersecurity company Kaspersky reported a significant decrease in the number of ransomware attempts it has detected and foiled among its small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) users in the Southeast Asian (SEA) region.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In its latest Kaspersky Security Network (KSN) report, the company revealed less than one million ransomware attempts (804,513) were monitored in 2020, less than half of 2019\u2019s over 1.9 million detections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among the six SEA countries, only Singapore observed an uptick in the number of ransomware detections. There was a slight increase from 2,275 instances in 2019 that jumped to 3,191 in 2020. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Although Indonesia still ranked fifth globally for the volume of its ransomware detections, its 1,158,837 detections are now down to 439,473. The trend of decreased ransomware incidents was observed across other countries in the region including Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Thailand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

China remains at the top spot in terms of ransomware detections globally both for 2019 and 2020. Meanwhile, Brazil and the Russian Federation switched places for the second and third spots, with Brazil now being 2nd<\/sup> globally for 2020. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI looked at the statistics for individual families, and it follows the overall drop in the number of detections, mainly due to the drop in the number of WannaCry detections. This family makes up a significant share of all detected ransomware, despite the fact that it has not been supported by the creators for more than three years and exists as a \u2018zombie\u2019,\u201d said Fedor Sinitsyn, security researcher at Kaspersky.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the most persistent cyber threats to SMBs in the region remains to be ransomware, a malware <\/a>designed to infect computers of organizations and individuals, encrypt the data in it, and block access to it. Ransomware attackers then will demand a fee from the victims in exchange for enabling the system to work again. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ransomware attacks may be declining but Kaspersky has been issuing a warning to companies, of all shapes and sizes, against the increasing activities of \u2018Ransomware 2.0\u2019 or what\u2019s known as targeted ransomware. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This cybersecurity \u201cdisease\u201d goes beyond kidnapping data. Malicious ransomware groups are now conducting data exfiltration coupled with blackmailing. Using \u201cpressure tactic\u201d, these cybercriminals threaten to publish publicly the data they hold, further increasing the need for the victims to pay the ransom to protect their valued reputation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe decrease of ransomware detections here should not make us complacent. Since last year, we have been underlining the evolution of this threat. Ransomware groups are now more concerned about quality over quantity. Meaning, from blindly throwing a line into the ocean and waiting for an insecure user to bite, attackers are now more aggressive and targeted towards their victims,\u201d comments Yeo Siang Tiong, General Manager for Southeast Asia at Kaspersky.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA single targeted ransomware group alone managed to breach over 61 companies<\/a> in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region last year, and with the accelerated<\/a> digitalization of businesses in the region, we also predict that the sophistication behind attack methods will only increase and become more sophisticated. SMBs and enterprises should seriously look into intelligence-based technologies, both for endpoint protection as well as detection and response,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are different ways to protect your computer and your data from ransomware attacks. Some of Kaspersky\u2019s tips include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n