Kaspersky: More Than 32 Thousand Ransomware Targets Indonesian Business

JAKARTA - Kaspersky's cybersecurity solutions have detected 57,571 ransomware attacks from January to June 2024 targeting businesses in Southeast Asia (SEA).

According to Kaspersky, Southeast Asia is an easy target for cybercriminals because of the evolving digital economy as well as geographical locations and resources as regional centers for finance and technology.

In addition, various levels of cybersecurity infrastructure are also the reason why this area remains a hotspot for ransomware attacks, especially in targeting large organizations and MSMEs.

In general, cybercriminals, including ransomware groups, are eyeing critical infrastructure and vulnerable sectors such as finance, public services, manufacturing, and health care. Basically, they are opportunists who target a lot of money," said Adrian Hia, Managing Director for Asia Pacific at Kaspersky.

The highest target ransomware for businesses in Southeast Asia occurred in Indonesia with 32,803 incidents blocked by Kaspersky. Followed by the Philippines with 15,208 ransomware and Thailand attacks with 4,841 cases.

Then, Malaysia was in fourth position with 3,920 dangerous attacks, followed by Vietnam with 692 attacks, and Singapore with 107 attacks.

"The impact of ransomware attacks can be devastating, both financially and reputationally," added Hia.

Hia said organizations not only need large amounts of resources to overcome their impacts. "This is not an option, especially for critical infrastructure and service providers," he concluded.