FINANCIAL phishing remains a significant threat to businesses in Southeast Asia, as cybercriminals continue to develop sophisticated methods to exploit vulnerabilities.
“Financial phishing will continue to evolve in this region, and sectors like banking, insurance, and e-commerce will remain prime targets. Apart from traditional phishing emails, cybercriminals will also continue to exploit social media and messaging platforms to spread fraudulent links, fake pages, and apps,” explained Adrian Hia, Managing Director for Asia Pacific at Kaspersky.
Between January and June 2024, Kaspersky’s anti-phishing technologies detected 336,294 phishing attacks targeting organizations and businesses in the region. These attacks primarily impersonated e-commerce, banking, and payment brands to steal credentials and sensitive data.
The prevalence of financial phishing has surged, with a 41 percent increase in attacks compared to the same period last year. This rise is attributed to the growing adoption of digital services and the use of artificial intelligence and automation by cybercriminals to craft more convincing schemes.
“The pool of potential victims has grown larger over the past few years given the increased usage of online banking and digital financial services. Kaspersky experts attribute this sharp rise to an increase in fraudulent activity rather than a decline in user vigilance: cybercriminals are becoming more aggressive in their pursuit of users’ data and money, including for those from corporate devices,” Hia added.
Financial phishing, a specific type of phishing, targets resources related to banking, payment systems, and digital shops. Attackers use deceptive tactics to manipulate victims into revealing personal and sensitive information, including login credentials and other data stored in financial accounts. Advanced social engineering techniques are frequently employed, with cybercriminals posing as financial institutions to instill fear and urgency or, in some cases, impersonating charitable organizations to solicit fraudulent contributions.
Among the countries in Southeast Asia, Thailand recorded the highest number of financial phishing attacks at 141,258, followed by Indonesia with 48,439. Vietnam logged 40,102 attacks, and Malaysia reported 38,056. Singapore and the Philippines recorded the lowest figures, with 28,591 and 26,080 attacks respectively. Notably, Thailand and Singapore saw the largest increases, with a staggering 582 percent and 406 percent rise compared to the same period last year.
“With deepfakes growing prevalent, we will also see increased use of fake videos and voice messages that are highly sophisticated and harder to detect. It is imperative now more than ever for companies to step up their security measures by implementing robust security solutions, adopting best practices, and training their workforce to raise awareness of cyber threats and how to protect themselves and their organizations,” Hia concluded.
