Southeast Asia Alert To Cyber Threats Elections And Privacy Attacks

JAKARTA - With borders fully opened since March last year, Southeast Asia (SEA) is continuing its journey and tourism after more than two years of lockdown.

However, digital habits that were formed during the pandemic remained intact with the region's internet economy which is estimated to reach US$330 billion by 2025.

With continued economic turbulence, inflation, exodus of tourism, and its geopolitical climate, experts at Kaspersky share a major trend that will impact the landscape of cyber threats in Southeast Asia by 2023.

Geopolitical intelligence hunting

The general election is expected to take place in Myanmar in 2023, between February 1 and August 1. The election will be the first after the 2021 military coup.

The country's unstable political situation poses a threat and opens opportunities for neighboring Myanmar and global political forces. Since early 2021, we have mentioned Myanmar in 10 APT reports. We believe this country will be at the line of geopolitical intelligence operations in 2023," said Vitaly Kamluk of Kaspersky, Director of Global Research & Analysis Team (GREAT).

Private attacks and cloud infrastructure

According to a study by Harvard Kennedy School, Singapore is at TOP 20 countries in the National Cyber Power Index. This is the smallest country by region and population included in TOP 20. This shows the advancement of Singapore technology, but also makes it an interesting target because of its deep infrastructure digitization.

Similar concerns about privacy can be observed across the region. To help curb attacks on user data, laws on data and privacy regulation were passed last year, particularly data privacy laws (UU PDP) in Indonesia and the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA) in Thailand.

More incidents of data breaches

Data protection still has a long way to go in Southeast Asia. As cybercriminals continue to sharpen their tools and expand their victimology, companies and organizations in the region must continue to build their IT security posture.

"Although 2022 is a milestone year for the region in terms of countries improving their policies to protect user data and privacy, it is also the year of major data breach," added Kamluk.

With most cyberattacks starting via phishing email, Kaspersky advises companies to invest in increasingly comprehensive cybersecurity measures such as XDR (eXtended Detection & Response) and implement more comprehensive user education to raise cybersecurity awareness.