Microsoft which released its Security Intelligence Report(SIR) recently has specifically mentioned that Malaysia has become extremely vulnerable to cyber attacks. The report compiled by the data taken from between Jan to Dec’18 says that it came to the above-said conclusion after analyzing 6.5 trillion cyber threat signals from cloud vendor’s several data points.
“Undoubtedly Malaysia has become a central hub for hackers to launch attacks on organizations operating in the region”, says Dr. Dzahar Mansor, National Technology Officer, Microsoft Malaysia.
Reasons for Malaysia acting as an attraction hub for cyber attacks are as follows-
Rise of Cryptocurrency Mining malware- The report covers the story that companies operating in Malaysia and Singapore are easily falling prey to cryptocurrency mining malware as cyber crooks are seen increasingly using victims PCs to mine digital currency coins, enabling them to make smart profits. Moreover, as the rate of crypto fluctuates, the rise and fall in the attack rates have been observed.
Ransomware attacks- While companies operating in western countries are observing a 73% rise in ransomware attacks. Malaysia, on the other hand, is found to be encountering 100% more on average. However, the Microsoft report specifies that there might be a change in volume of ransomware attacks, but the severity rate hasn’t declined- especially on transportation, traffic systems, and hospitals.
Drive-by download pages- While drive-by download web page encounters have witnessed a rise of 22% in the world, Malaysia is said to have experienced the attack crisis by an alarming 544 percent increase on a global average. Microsoft report claims that across the world, the highest density of drive-by download pages has been witnessed in Malaysia, Indonesia, and Taiwan. Note- Drive-by the download web page is nothing but a compromised web-page which when accessed pushes malware onto the victim’s computer. Thus, users will be infected with malware simply by visiting the website, even without attempting to download anything.
To counter the situation, Microsoft in association with other tech companies is trying its best to create awareness on the significance of cybersecurity and create a brawny defense for Malaysia in cyberspace.
