Cybersecurity firm Kaspersky has unveiled alarming information regarding the Philippines’ placement in the cyber threat ranking, putting it in second place as the most attacked nation via removable drives and infected websites in 2022.
According to Kaspersky Security Network (KSN), the gathered data raises the country’s position two notches higher from previous placement.
At 49.8 percent in rating, the Philippines is only topped by Mongolia at 51.1 percent, while Ukraine (49.6 percent), Greece (49.5 percent), and Belarus (49.1 percent) followed suit with their respective ratings.
Kaspersky derived the data from the Web-based cyber threats it detected and blocked, where it also found out that perpetrators are likely to target and attack a single device multiple times.
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Despite that grim finding, Kaspersky also claims that the Philippines has seen a drop in the spread of local malware through removal drives from 35,825,044 in 2021 to 25,060,519 in 2022. This significantly places the country in the 72nd position versus the 70th ranking just a year before.
Unsurprisingly, worms and viruses were the common types of malware found in USB sticks.
Attacks via websites, such as with drive-by downloads or when a user unwittingly downloads a malicious code by simply accessing a website, also have displayed a decline in numbers, lowering what was 50,544,908 to 39,387,052.
In addition to drive-by downloads, the cyber criminal’s other favorite means of attack is social engineering whereby the user downloads a file and believes it to be a safe program but it is not.
Managing Director for Asia Pacific at Kaspersky Chris Donnell is thereby urging commercial companies, especially new ones or those that classify themselves as part of the small-and-medium enterprises, to employ basic protection, including a secure endpoint and encryptions.