During the year’s first half, Kaspersky foiled almost four-fold malware attacks targeting small and medium businesses (SMBs) in Southeast Asia (SEA).
The global cybersecurity company today revealed that its solutions blocked 44,022 malware attacks against SMB employees in the region from January to June 2023, a 364% jump compared to just 9,482 hits in the same period in 2022.
To help SMBs figure out their cybersecurity plan, Kaspersky shares the most common types of threats this sector faces:
Exploits
Exploits were the biggest threat to SMBs in the first six months of 2023. Malicious and/or unwanted software often infiltrates the victim’s computer through exploits and malicious programs designed to take advantage of vulnerabilities in software. They can run other malware on the system, elevate the attackers’ privileges, and cause the target application to crash. They can often penetrate the victim’s computer without any action by the user.
Trojans
The second-biggest threat was Trojans. Named after the mythical horse that helped the Greeks infiltrate and defeat Troy, this threat is the best-known. It enters the system in disguise and then starts its malicious activity. Depending on its purpose, a Trojan can perform various actions, such as deleting, blocking, modifying, or copying data, disrupting the performance of a computer or computer network, and so on.
Backdoors
The third most common threat is backdoors. These are among the most dangerous types of malware as they give the cybercriminals remote control once they penetrate the victim’s device. They can install, launch, and run programs without the consent or knowledge of the user. Once installed, backdoors can be instructed to send, receive, execute, and delete files, harvest confidential data from the computer, log activity, and more.
Not-a-virus
Potentially unwanted applications (PUAs) that can be inadvertently installed on your device are labeled “not-a-virus” by our solutions. Although they are listed among the most widespread threats and can be used by cybercriminals to cause harm, they are not malicious per se. Nonetheless, their behavior is annoying, sometimes even dangerous, and the antivirus alerts users because, despite being legal, they often sneak onto the device without the user realizing it.
Cybercriminals attempt to deliver this and other malware and unwanted software to employees’ devices by using any means necessary, such as vulnerability exploitation, phishing emails, and fake text messages. Even something totally unrelated to business, such as a YouTube link, may be used to target SMBs, as their employees often use the same devices for work and personal matters.
One of the methods often utilized to hack into employees’ smartphones is so-called “smishing” (a combination of SMS and phishing). The victim receives a link via SMS, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, WeChat, or other messaging app. If the user clicks the link, malicious code is uploaded into the system.
Experts in Kaspersky suggest that SMBs have a comprehensive defensive concept that equips, informs, and guides your team in their fight against the most sophisticated and targeted cyberattacks like the Kaspersky Extended Detection and Response (XDR) platform.
For local SMBs, Kaspersky in Southeast Asia also has launched a Buy 1 Free 1 promo, which allows businesses to enjoy two years of enterprise-grade endpoint protection for the price of 1 with Kaspersky Endpoint Security for Business or Cloud or Kaspersky Endpoint Detection and Response Optimum, with 24×7 phone support. Interested customers can reach out to sea.sales@kaspersky.com.
To know more about Kaspersky’s latest SMB threat report, visit https://securelist.com/smb-threat-report-2023/110097/.
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