Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 23) — While mobile malware attacks in the Philippines dropped by 39% in the first half of 2021, a cybersecurity firm warned Monday that companies remain vulnerable amid continual lockdowns.
In a statement, Kaspersky said mobile malware attacks, which attempt to steal personal data, fell to 22,248 in the January-June period from the 36,619 detected in the same period last year.
The Philippines’ figures were far better compared to its Southeast Asian peers, like Indonesia and Thailand which had 232,485 and 54,937 mobile threats, respectively, in the first semester.
In the region, Kaspersky said it detected 382,578 mobile malware attacks in the period, 13.6% higher than the threats it blocked a year ago. The mobile attacks detected and blocked cover the general Kaspersky users from the region, it noted.
“As the pandemic continues to grip countries in Southeast Asia, more workers are expected to set up their remote office environment, if not continue to work virtually,” Kaspersky said.
The Philippines, for instance, has been under coronavirus lockdown for more than a year now, limiting movement and forcing many companies in different sectors to embrace remote working.
“This trend keeps the population safer physically, but also opens vulnerabilities against enterprises,” it said.
According to Kaspersky, some employees use their personal devices to work from home, while other companies equipped their employees with work gadgets.
However, personal activities such as playing video games and watching videos, including adult content, could make them vulnerable to cybercriminals.
“Laptops are the main workhorse but mobile devices have also been used to access office emails and work-related systems even before the pandemic. It is a risky but a known practice that these same handsets are also being utilized for personal tasks and accessing guilty pleasures,” Yeo Siang Tiong, general manager for Southeast Asia at Kaspersky, was quoted as saying in the statement.
“With this trend being more rampant in a virtual home office, companies should revisit their policies, access rights, and security set-up to block cybercriminals from entering their enterprise network through infected smartphones,” he added.
