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Southeast Asian businesses, governments more vulnerable to cyber-attacks, says report
Southeast Asian business and governments faced a 45% higher risk of being a target of cyber-attack than the global average during the first half the year, a report by Singapore Telecommunications and online security services provider FireEye Inc reveals.
The Asset 19 Nov 2015
Southeast Asian business and governments faced a 45% higher risk of being a target of cyber-attacks than the global average in the first half the year, a report by Singapore Telecommunications and online security services provider FireEye Inc reveals.
 
The intensity of attacks has escalated in the January to June period. In the prior six months, the region recorded only a 7% higher risk, says the report.
 
Across the region, 29% of observed organizations were targeted with advanced cyber-attacks in the first half of 2015. Thailand and the Philippines were hardest hit, with 40% and 39% of observed organizations exposed to these attacks, respectively.
 
More than one-third of malware detections associated with advanced persistent threat (APT) groups originated within the entertainment, media and hospitality industries. By targeting media organizations, threat groups can gain access to news before it is published and potentially identify undisclosed sources.
 
FireEye observed at least 13 APT groups targeting national government organizations and at least four APT groups targeting regional or state governments around the world.
 
"Espionage isn't new but it is increasingly conducted online, and Southeast Asia is a hot spot," says Eric Hoh, president for Asia Pacific Japan at FireEye. "Geopolitics can drive cyber-attacks. As Southeast Asia becomes a larger economic player on the world stage and tensions flare in the South China Sea, organizations should be prepared for targeted attacks."
 
William Woo, managing director, enterprise data and managed services at Singtel adds, "The report emphasizes the frequency and sophistication of cyber-attacks against all types of industries and enterprises in the region. The risk of attack, faced by regional enterprises, is higher than the global average. Therefore these enterprises must make it a priority to reinforce their cyber defences. Even though APT attacks can be discovered within a shorter timeframe than before, which is currently after 205 days, this still leaves enterprises wide open to malicious activity within their breached environment."
 
FireEye observed malware beaconing from a state-owned bank in Southeast Asia. FireEye Threat Intelligence believes the malware, called CANNONFODDER, is most likely used by Asian cyber threat groups to collect political and economic intelligence. In late-2014, FireEye observed the malware beaconing from an Asian telecommunications company. In mid-2014, the company observed threat actors sending spear phishing emails with malicious attachments to employees of an Asian government.
 
In April 2015, FireEye released a report documenting an advanced persistent threat group referred to as APT30 which conducted a cyber espionage operation against businesses, governments and journalists in Southeast Asia for ten years. This group's malware, called Lecna, comprised 7% of all detections at FireEye customers in Southeast Asia in the first half of 2015.
 

FireEye has been tracking ongoing activity associated with a unique and relatively stealthy group it first identified in 2013 as APT.NineBlog. One of the probable targets of the group's 2015 campaign is a Southeast Asian government, based on the specificity of some of the decoy documents. The group's malware uses encrypted SSL communications to evade detection. In addition, the malware attempts to detect the presence of applications used to analyze malware, and it quits if any is detected. 

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