Southeast Asia firms face threat of digital break-in–report

MANILA, Philippines — Cybersecurity leader Kaspersky has neutralized more than 61 million brute force attacks against businesses in Southeast Asia, including about five million in the Philippines, warning companies to raise their digital defenses or suffer financial consequences.

In a report, Kaspersky said it blocked 61.37 million brute force attacks in 2023, with 4.62 million of the attempts originating from the Philippines.

Brute force attacks refer to a cybersecurity threat wherein criminals try to guess the password of a computer until a correct combination is found.

If successful, the attackers gain access to the computer, exposing their victim to security risks. In most cases of brute force attacks, businesses surrender sensitive data and pay up a financial cost or sustain brand damage.

As such, Kaspersky managing director for Asia Pacific Adrian Hia urged companies to improve their digital defenses to thwart brute force attacks. He listed the use of third-party contractors and allowing employees to open work servers at home as some of the risks that expose a business.

“The use of third-party services for data exchange, employees working on their home computers and potentially insecure WiFi networks, and the use of remote-access tools like remote desktop protocol remain to be a headache for corporate infosec teams,” Hia said.

Likewise, Hia cautioned that it is possible some criminals are now taking advantage of artificial intelligence (AI) to break into the digital platforms of companies.

He warned that the consequences are endless if a computer is compromised, as it gives attackers the leverage to demand anything from their victims.

“(Once) threat actors gain remote access to corporate computers, the possibility of financial and even reputational damage they can do becomes endless. Businesses should beef up their endpoint and network security posture to defend against AI-based brute force attacks,” Hia said.

In Southeast Asia, Kaspersky traced the most number of brute force attacks in Vietnam at 25.98 million, followed by Indonesia’s 11.7 million and Thailand’s 10.21 million. Singapore registered 6.06 million, while Malaysia recorded 2.81 million.

Hia told businesses in the region to use strong passwords and employ two-factor authentication to minimize the gaps on the surface level.

Further, he said they can avail themselves of software solutions that come with a set of functions for network-wide management and monitoring.