In the first half of 2020, phishing attempts targeting SMBs in Singapore increased by 61%, mirroring similar increases across South East Asian countries.

Number of phishing attempts against SMBs blocked by Kaspersky Anti-Phishing System, year-on-year.
With the COVID-19 pandemic accelerating Singapore’s digitalisation efforts, SMBs have become the focal point of discussion for many, as funding worries and the shift to telecommuting have left them in no man’s land.
“Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, Singapore continues to retain attraction as the region’s premier business hub, and speaks well of the local businesses’ ability to remain resilient despite headwinds from the global slowdown. However, almost half (41%) of businesses continue to express that the high costs of investment – lack of financing and funding – are major barriers holding them back from digitalisation. The implications of this statistic are significant, as it means cybersecurity may not be a key priority for businesses during this period of cost-cutting,” says Stephan Neumeier, Managing Director for Asia Pacific at Kaspersky.
While the Government has launched generous initiatives such as the new training and adult education industry digitalisation plan to augment SMBs’ competitiveness, malicious actors continue to find new ways to test businesses’ digital readiness.
According to Kaspersky’s latest statistics, the global cybersecurity company foiled 89,351 phishing attacks against SMBs in H1 2020, compared to 55,653 in the same period last year.
Although Singapore continues to fare better than their SMB counterparts in Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam to witness the lowest volume of phishing attacks in Southeast Asia, the 61% increase suggests that more can be done by Singapore’s SMBs to improve their cybersecurity.
More details below from the presentation and press release.
(more…)