APAC Financial Cybersecurity Risks Grow

Financial companies the world over are at risk for cyberattacks, but according to new analysis from Kaspersky Lab, the Asia-Pacific region is particularly vulnerable.

An announcement Monday (Oct. 17) said Kaspersky focused on the APAC region and its risk of cyberattacks at its Cyber Security Weekend event, held earlier this month in Indonesia.

“Financial threats vary, from online fraud and banking Trojans that affect PCs, tablets and smartphones, to attacks on financial organizations, ATMs and even point-of-sale terminals,” said Kaspersky Lab Director of Global Research and Analysis Team in APAC Vitaly Kamluk in a statement. “Analyzing our statistics, we see that, as the financial sector in Asia-Pacific countries is developing fast, cybercriminals are increasingly looking for ways they can profit from it.”

“Since a lot of organizations and individuals often forget about security when adopting new technologies, we believe it’s important to remind them about cybersecurity principles that will help them stay safe,” he continued.

Kaspersky Lab highlighted its research conducted with B2B International, the findings of which are aggregated in its Consumer Security Risks Survey 2016. According to Kaspersky, 67 percent of APAC respondents say they are increasingly worried about online banking fraud; nearly the same amount said they often worry about their vulnerability when making online financial transactions.

Researchers said these worries could be justified, considering 5 percent of consumers have lost money from some form of online transacting being hit with fraud or a scam. The average amount of money lost due to an incident like this is $476, the report said.

“Spam, phishing and banking Trojans are among the most widespread financial threats,” Kamluk said. “So, users should be attentive to fake web pages, unexpected emails asking to provide financial information, and secure their mobile devices if transactions are made from them.”

Businesses, too, he said, can also take the initiative to protect themselves.

“Organizations should also regularly check their IT infrastructure and especially computers from which financial transactions are made,” he stated.