Malware and brute force attacks dominate Asia Pacific

KUALA LUMPUR, April 26 (Bernama) -- Viruses and worms accounted for 66 per cent of malware, nearly three times the global percentage of 23 per cent.

The 2018 Global Threat Intelligence Report (GTIR), published by NTT Security, shows an increasing trend of ransomware in nearly every region, playing a role in only 2 per cent of malware-related attacks for APAC (Asia Pacific) targets.

Conversely, brute force attacks accounted for 26 per cent of all attacks in the region, but were ranked the twelfth most common attack type in both the Americas and Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), a statement said.

Brute force attacks spiked to 64 per cent for the retail and education sectors in APAC and was the leading attack type in the region, at 26 per cent.

A brute force attack usually uses automated software to perform many consecutive guesses to identify usernames and passwords. Simple passwords can be broken in seconds or minutes depending on password complexity.

Senior Manager of the Threat Intelligence Communication Team, Global Threat Intelligence Centre at NTT Security, Jon Heimerl said: " The GTIR clearly demonstrates the uphill battle organisations face in achieving an optimal balance between operational security and compliance initiatives.

"In order to be successful they cannot afford to be complacent and must recognise that having a firm grasp on what it takes to remain secure is a fundamental part of everyday business operations.

"In an ever-evolving threat landscape, defending your organization is no small task, but focusing on key areas outlined in our report, such as incident response plans, multi-factor and strong authentication, comprehensive and reliable patching and usable but effective security measures, can help to build the security posture of an organisation," Heimerl added.

The 2018 GTIR report gathers data from NTT Security monitoring, management, and incident response operations. It also includes details from NTT Security research sources including global honeypots and sandboxes in over 100 countries in environments independent from institutional infrastructures.

--BERNAMA