If you are one of the people who guards their computers against viruses, then you must have heard of Kaspersky as one of the leading antivirus softwares. Well, that same cybersecurity has now ranked the Philippines as the 4th most attacked by web threats worldwide last 2019.
From placing as rank 11 last 2018, the country has been moved to a huge gap to place as 4th. Countries before the Philippines are Albania (3rd), Algeria (2nd), and Nepal as the 1st.
According to Kaspersky, the main reason for these ‘online crimes’ is still grounded on a browser attack. This means that cybercriminals—who continues to thrive in our country’s online activities—are still waiting for an opportunity to strike unwary users.
Attempts are made through drive-by downloads or social engineering. When we say ‘drive-by downloads’, we are referring to how users visit websites without knowing that the sites are corrupted by malwares which attaches itself on the computer system. Computers who have not been updated (in terms of operating systems, applications, or web browsers) are most likely open to these infections.
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Social engineering is, simply put, when cybercriminals pretend to be a friend, a family member, or an IT support personnel to prompt users in giving them personal information.
Kaspersky has also listed the top 5 ways cybercriminals do their dirty work, particularly here in Southeast Asia. These includes:
- Visiting an infected website. This also includes online advertisements which may collect personal information without user knowledge.
- Accidentally downloading files or programs from the internet
- Browser extension activity. An example of the Browser extension is when it functions to block ads on Web pages, or an offer to translate texts from one language to another.
- Downloading infected email attachments
- Installing malicious components or communications with control & command (C&C).
On a local scale, threats come from malware spread often passed on to removable devices such as flashdrives, DVDs, or CDs. Kaspersky also informed that worms and file viruses are usually those responsible for these attacks. Preventive measures are done for around 52.73% of individual internet measures as well as for 20.99% of business users in the country alone.
It is alright to explore the internet as long as you do it with caution. Especially these days were even hackers who only grab at your information for their own entertainment, one can never be sure who or what to trust. Let us always be wary of giving away vital information which could jeopardize our online interactions.