McAfee Findings: 89 Percent Of Companies In Southeast Asia Experience Increased Cyber Threats

Illustration. (Photo: Doc. McAfee)

JAKARTA - McAfee Enterprise and FireEye released the findings of Cybercrime in a Pandemic World: The Impact of COVID-19, revealing the level of urgency for enterprises to prioritize and strengthen their cybersecurity architecture.

The findings show that during the pandemic, 89 percent of companies in Southeast Asia experienced an increase in cyber threats, and 81 percent experienced downtime due to cyber incidents during peak holidays or certain celebrations.

With the arrival of the holiday season in November-December at the end of 2021, and the decline in PPKM levels in big cities before the holiday season, the e-commerce, retail, travel, supply chain and logistics industries are predicted to experience a sharp increase in consumer and business activity, making them more vulnerable to cyberthreats and increasing the risk of leaking business, employee and consumer data.

"Businesses of all sizes must evaluate and prioritize security technologies to stay protected, especially during the peak of the holiday season," said Bryan Palma, CEO of the joint venture McAfee Enterprise & FireEye.

"Traditional approaches are no longer enough, 94 percent of the companies we surveyed are planning to improve their overall cyber readiness and businesses need an integrated security architecture and an ever-present approach to prevent, protect and react to today's cyberthreats," he added.

Focus shifts to key industries

In addition to the increase in consumer spending, the holiday season also has a significant impact on other related industries. Various limitations, ranging from manpower and stock of goods especially electronics, create urgency for various companies to develop security plans to effectively dispel and act on threats.

E-commerce and retail

According to a 2021 study by Facebook and Bain & Company, e-commerce sales in Southeast Asia will double to US$254 billion by 2026. Even with the decline in PPKM levels and the reopening of crowded places, the shift to online shopping will continue to increase.

Driving in the holiday season, and hosting big year-end sales festivals like 11.11 are likely to see a spike in e-commerce traffic and sales, making this industry a prime target for cybercriminals.

According to the McAfee Enterprise COVID-19 dashboard, the global retail industry accounts for 5.2 percent of the total detected cyberthreats. The threats include compromised payment and cloud storage credentials, as well as other forms of retail fraud and theft.

Tour

Cyber threats are not new to the travel industry, airports, airlines, travel sites and ride-hailing apps have fallen victim to this in the past. However, the industry is on the defensive due to travel restrictions and PPKM.

According to a United Nations report, Southeast Asia could suffer a loss of up to 8.4 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) due to the pandemic. The Indonesian government's strategy of lowering the PPKM level in big cities, and opening the entrance for foreign tourists from several countries, is expected to stimulate the interest of tourists who have long harbored the desire to travel, increase ticket sales and online bookings, which is an opportunity for tourists. cyber criminals.

Logistics and supply chain

According to the 2021 BCI Global Supply Chain Resilience Report, 27.8 percent of companies reported more than 20 supply chain disruptions during 2020, up from 4.8 percent in 2019.

Reducing manufacturing and logistics capacity and workforce, along with increasing demand for goods, have created the perfect attack vector for cybercriminals: weak and vulnerable infrastructure to penetrate. Supply chain regulators must identify risks, understand the potential downstream effects of cyberattacks and plan actions so that they can act quickly in the event of an incident.

What the company needs to know

While IT professionals know that cyberthreats have been on the rise, the findings prove that enterprises in Southeast Asia have not effectively prioritized security during COVID:

- There was an increase in online/web attack activity by more than 60 percent- 31 percent actually reduced technology and security budgets- 62 percent experienced downtime due to cyber problems, with a loss of more than US$100,000- More than 90 percent realized that maintaining a security team/ Complete SOC becomes more difficult during peak period

"The key challenge impacting businesses globally is creating the perfect catalyst for cybercriminals to take advantage of it," continued Palma. needed to address increasingly aggressive and innovative threats.”

How to deal with threats

There are several ways for companies to become more proactive and prepared to deal with cybercrime, such as implementing industry-wide security measures and cybersecurity requirements, providing virtual security awareness training for employees, and developing prevention and response plans.

Additionally, enterprises and commercial businesses can deploy cloud-based security with MVISION Unified Cloud Edge (UCE) and FireEye Extended Detection and Response (XDR).

Survey Methodology Cybercrime in a Pandemic World: The Impact of COVID-19

McAfee commissioned global independent market research specialist MSI-ACI to conduct the research for this study. Between September and October 2021 a quantitative study was conducted, interviewing 150 IT and line business decision makers in Southeast Asia.

Survey centers are Singapore, US, UK, Australia, France, Germany, India, South Africa and the UAE. Respondents are IT business professionals, involved in IT security and working for companies with more than 500 employees.

Interviews are conducted online using a rigorous multi-level screening process to ensure that only suitable candidates are given the opportunity to participate.