According to the latest data from Kaspersky Security Network (KSN), more than two million incidents originating from servers located in Singapore have been detected within the second quarter of 2019, which places Singapore at 11th globally as cyber threat source from a country.
The global cybersecurity company revealed the results from the data report in a press release on Wednesday (17 July).
The report also deduced that 2,141,642 local incidents on the computers, and that a third (33.6%) of users in Singapore were almost infected by local threats during this period. In terms of web threats, Kaspersky detected 1,300,197 different Internet-borne cyberthreats on the computers of KSN participants in Singapore, with 12.8% of users were attacked by web-borne threats during Q2 2019.
“As one of Asia’s top digital nations, it is unsurprising that Singapore has become a key target for hackers to perpetrate attacks through the country’s well-developed IT infrastructure. This underscores the importance of ensuring that cybercriminals do not take advantage of our local servers for their ill-intents. To develop a robust cybersecurity strategy and overcome such challenges, we need to further build on the nation’s capacity for public-private partnerships so there can be a concerted effort in addressing such issues,” said Yeo Siang Tiong, General Manager at Kaspersky, Southeast Asia.
With the government’s clear priority towards securing the country’s online periphery, I believe the threat landscape in the country will improve, maybe slowly, but still surely. For our part, we recently extended our knowledge sharing cooperation with INTERPOL and we also have active partnerships with universities in Singapore which aim to boost the cybersecurity skills of the youth in this country,” he added.
Ultimately, given the high levels of digital and physical connectivity in Singapore, it is vital to have in place a set of robust cybersecurity protocols and infrastructure that will in turn, further develop the nation’s cyber resilience towards digital threats.

Hence, in order to be secured against the evolving threats online, Kaspersky’s security experts advise the following measures of precaution:

  • Carefully check the link before visiting a site, especially for misspelling or other irregularities, even if you think it’s a site you’ve visited regularly before.
  • Enter your username and password only over a secure connection. Avoid logging in to online banks and similar services via public Wi-Fi networks.
  • Be aware that URLs that begin with the “https” may not always be secure.
  • Don’t trust emails from unknown senders until you can verify the authenticity their origins.
  • Always run a system with a quality, up-to-date anti-malware program such as Kaspersky Internet Security.

For companies, Kaspersky recommends the following steps:

  • Educating employees about the risks – like the basic rule to not open emails from people they do not know as well as attachments or links.
  • Advocating good password habits in the workforce including using unique passwords and keeping it safe from anyone’s access.
  • Setting up tiered levels of access, giving permission only to those who need it on each level.
  • Conducting regular cybersecurity training which will deliver knowledge on latest threats and more importantly to improve employee habits and form new behavior patterns for a safer work environment.
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