Thailand remains a top target for cyberthreats and financial phishing attacks among the countries of Southeast Asia, according to global cybersecurity company Kaspersky.
During the first six months of 2024, Kaspersky blocked more than 23 million bruteforce attacks targeting businesses in Southeast Asia.
A bruteforce attack is a method employed by cybercriminals to guess login info, encryption keys, or to find a hidden web page by systematically attempting all possible character combinations until they find the correct one. It allows attackers to obtain personal data and other valuable information, plant and spread malware, and even hijack a system for malicious activities.
A total of 23,491,775 bruteforce generic Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) attacks were detected and foiled by Kaspersky products installed at companies of various sizes in the region.
RDP is Microsoft's proprietary protocol, providing a user with a graphical interface to connect to another computer via a network.
Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand registered the highest number of RDP attacks during the first half of the year, with over 8.4 million, 5.7 million and 4.2 million attacks recorded, respectively.
Moreover, Kaspersky detected 336,294 phishing attacks launched at organisations and businesses in Southeast Asia.
The attacks were impersonating e-commerce, banking and payment brands, and were aimed at stealing credentials and other sensitive data.
Thailand logged the highest number of financial phishing attacks at 141,258, followed by Indonesia with 48,439.
Thailand and Singapore both registered the two largest increases of such attacks of 582% and 406%, respectively, compared to the corresponding period last year.
Through financial phishing, attackers deceptively manipulate victims to divulge their personal and valuable information such as login credentials to financial accounts, as well as other personal or corporate information that is stored in those accounts.
They are employing advanced social engineering schemes masquerading as financial institutions to deceive, invoke fear and exhort victims, and in some instances impersonating charitable organisations to trick victims into making contributions.
Adrian Hia, managing director for Asia-Pacific at Kaspersky, earlier told the Bangkok Post that the company has committed to significant investment in Thailand as a growing digital economy and favourable government initiatives such as joining Brics.
Brics is a bloc of major emerging economies, comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates, Iran, Egypt and Ethiopia as full members.
This has led Kaspersky to expand its team and services, targeting both the small and medium-sized enterprise and enterprise sectors.
Thailand is expected to play a pivotal role in the company's APAC expansion, potentially becoming one of its top five markets by 2026, Mr Hia said.
"We're committed to doubling our investment in the country over the next two years," he said.
He added that the geopolitical landscape is seen as both a challenge and an opportunity. While there are "good" and "not-so-good" markets for the company, the favourable environment in Thailand, especially with the government's digital initiatives, provides an optimistic outlook.
These initiatives include the promotion of digital currency, the widespread adoption of cryptocurrencies, and digital services that fuel the digital transformation of the economy.
Mr Hia also sees opportunities in SIEM (Security Information and Event Management), as solutions are becoming increasingly important as businesses need to store and analyse security incidents.
