Cyber Attacks on Southeast Asian Organizations on the Rise
FireEye, Inc. (NASDAQ: FEYE) as well as Singapore Telecommunications Limited (Singtel) on 19 November released a brand-new report on advanced cyber attacks against organizations in Southeast Asia. within the first half of the year, organizations observed within the region faced a 45 percent higher risk of dealing using a targeted cyber attack than the global average. within the prior six-month period, they faced only a 7 percent higher risk.
Across the region, 29 percent of observed organizations were targeted with advanced cyber attacks within the first half of 2015. Thailand as well as the Philippines were hardest hit, with 40 percent as well as 39 percent of observed organizations exposed to these attacks, respectively.
Percentage of FireEye customers observed to have been affected by targeted malware January to June 2015
More than one-third of malware detections associated with advanced persistent threat (APT) groups originated within the entertainment, media as well as hospitality industries. By targeting media organizations, threat groups can gain access to news before the item will be published as well as potentially identify undisclosed sources.
FireEye observed at least 13 APT groups targeting national government organizations as well as at least four APT groups targeting regional or state governments around the entire world.
“Espionage isn’t brand-new although the item will be increasingly conducted online, as well as Southeast Asia will be a hot spot,” said Eric Hoh, president for Asia Pacific Japan at FireEye. “Geopolitics can drive cyber attacks. As Southeast Asia becomes a larger economic player on the entire world stage as well as tensions flare within the South China Sea, organizations should be prepared for targeted attacks.”
William Woo, Managing Director, Enterprise Data as well as Managed Services at Singtel said, “The report emphasizes the frequency as well as sophistication of cyber attacks against all types of industries as well as enterprises within the region. The risk of attack, faced by regional enterprises, will be higher than the global average. Therefore these enterprises must prioritize reinforcing their cyber defences. Even though APT attacks can be discovered within a shorter timeframe than before, which will be currently after 205 days, This particular still leaves enterprises wide open to malicious activity within their breached environment.”
Threat intelligence will be an important tool for organizations seeking to stay ahead of attackers. The report contains insights into recent developments in Southeast Asia’s cyber threat landscape, such as groups targeting prominent institutions to gather political as well as economic intelligence, the detection of a known cyber espionage campaign, as well as threat actors’ evolving techniques to evade detection.
State-owned bank compromised
FireEye observed malware beaconing via a state-owned bank in Southeast Asia. FireEye Threat Intelligence believes the malware, called CANNONFODDER, will be most likely used by Asian cyber threat groups to collect political as well as economic intelligence. In late-2014, FireEye observed the malware beaconing via an Asian telecommunications company. In mid-2014, the company observed threat actors sending spear phishing emails with malicious attachments to employees of an Asian government.
Decade-long cyber espionage campaign detected
In April 2015, FireEye released a report documenting an advanced persistent threat group referred to as APT30, which conducted a cyber espionage operation against businesses, governments as well as journalists in Southeast Asia for 10 years. This particular group’s malware, called Lecna, comprised 7 percent of all detections at FireEye customers in Southeast Asia within the first half of 2015.
Source: FireEye Inc.
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Cyber Attacks on Southeast Asian Organizations on the Rise
Cyber Attacks on Southeast Asian Organizations on the Rise