Mapping out SEA’s digital defenders

As digitalization and remote working become more commonplace due to the Covid-19 pandemic, cybercriminals have caught on to the opportunities. With Southeast Asia’s digital economy needing defenders, here are some of the region’s companies that have stepped up to the challenge.

Southeast Asia’s digital economy is expected to hit a gross merchandise value of US$1 trillion by 2030, which presents opportunities for both the victims and perpetrators of cybercrime. Unfortunately, cybersecurity and readiness against cyberthreats, while increasing in recent times, remains relatively low in the region.

Ransomware is the world’s leading cyberthreat

Ransomware is malicious software that blocks access to a system or data collection through the use of encryption unless a ransom is paid. It became the bane of data security throughout the pandemic and claimed the title of “most prominent malware threat” not just in Southeast Asia but worldwide.

Part of this is due to ransomware not requiring in-depth knowledge of hacking. Some tech-savvy criminals who would usually take this approach have instead become threat-makers and offer ransomware as a service, proliferating the number of attacks.

Further complicating matters is how some ransomware attacks are state-sponsored, which are meant to not only lock data but also steal it for the purpose of extortion or weaponization. These can also be used to raise funds, especially if the state were subject to financial sanctions.

Ransomware attacks are expected to become more common, with predictions placing a value of US$265 billion on the damage in net worth per year for such attacks by 2031. By then, there will be a ransomware attack happening every two seconds – the current estimate is that one attack happens every 11 seconds.

The effects have already been felt in Southeast Asia, such as when Malaysian web-hosting service Exabytes was ransomed for US$900,000 and when French multinational insurance firm Axa was hit by suspected Russian ransomware that disrupted its operations in Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong, and the Philippines.

In response, cyberinsurance policies saw a rise in uptake as more organizations sought to protect themselves against ransomware. This also builds digital resilience in businesses as insurance providers help their clients defend themselves against attacks.

Digitalization opens doors

The threats that make up the current attackers’ playbook are not new. Instead, events such as the pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine conflict have accelerated existing methods.

The pandemic-induced lockdowns have led to remote working becoming more common. This brought about an increase in devices and use of digital services at home, which meant a wider surface of attack for cybercriminals to exploit. This applied to both the public and private sector as government services were also forced to digitalize rapidly.

Consumption of digital services like content streaming, bank transactions, and online gaming also increased over the course of the lockdowns, leading to more opportunities for stolen identities and breached data protection.

Users have also become more aware of the ramifications of breached data privacy and have been demanding better protection of their personal data. This has led to the region’s cybersecurity companies focusing on data security as a vertical, which includes identity verification and document safety. Among the firms in this space are Singapore-based SpeQtral and Indonesia-based Synchro.

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