News Source: Tech Wire Asia
Writer: Holly Patrick
MICROSOFT’S most recent Security Intelligence Report (SIR)shows Bangladesh and Pakistan to be most at risk of malicious software attacks.
The bi-annual global report from the first quarter of 2017 reveals the most vulnerable nations prone to cyberattacks. The in-depth study gives insights into the global threat landscape, with individuals sometimes finding themselves having to pay huge amounts to cybercriminals just to access their own devices.
The other at-risk countries ranking behind Bangladesh and Pakistan are Cambodia and Indonesia. An approximate one in four computers running Microsoft real-time security products in these countries reported a malware encounter in Q1 2017.
“Malicious software is evolving rapidly, fuelled by the growing market for exploits being sold in the dark web,” said Nithin Thomas, CEO of cyber security technology company, SQR Systems, told Tech Wire Asia.
Dr Dzahar Mansor, National Technology Officer, Microsoft Malaysia, discusses the findings of Microsoft Security Intelligence Report (SIR) in Kuala Lumpur on Oct 23. Source: Microsoft
“The fragmented nature of networks being used in the Internet of Things, presents an even greater challenge due to the difficulty in tracking the potential risks to the networks.”
Japan sees the least amount of cyberattacks in the region, reporting only 2 percent of computers as having malicious program incidents.
Findings revealed an approximate average of 12.9 percent of computers (running Microsoft real-time security products) in Malaysia reporting a malware encounter in the first quarter of 2017. This put Malaysia’s rate of cyberattacks higher than the global average of just 9 percent.
However, the report boasted positive data, showing that Malaysia’s malware occurrences, compared to Q1 2016, had decreased by 16.7 percent.
Read more about this report here.
