According to recent data from global cybersecurity company Kaspersky, approximately 43 million local threats targeted Southeast Asian businesses during 2023. Specifically, Kaspersky's business solutions successfully obstructed 42.7 million local infections across the region from January to December last year.

Statistics of local infections serve as a critical overview of the general cyber threat landscape. Such infections manifest themselves on the target computers through infected files or removable media, secretly hidden in complex installers or encrypted files, among other ways. The calculations account for security scans of files upon their creation or access on the hard drive, along with the outcomes of scanning removable storage media.

Despite a global increase in cyber threats last year, combining both individual and corporate sectors, every nation in Southeast Asia marked a negligible decrease in the number of local threats detected and blocked on business devices using Kaspersky's solutions, with the lone exception of Singapore.

Alarming records showed Singapore recording a 67% YoY increase in local incidents, from 300,000 in 2022 to a staggering 500,000 the following year. Ultimately, companies in Vietnam, Indonesia, and Thailand bore the brunt of this onslaught in 2023.

By the numbers, Indonesia was the hardest hit, with 16.4 million incidents, followed by Vietnam at 17.1 million. Thailand dealt with 4.7 million local threats, while Malaysia and the Philippines reported 2.5 million and 1.5 million incidents, respectively, for a grand total of 42.7 million local threats.

Adrian Hia, Managing Director for Asia Pacific at Kaspersky, assumes Southeast Asia's global manufacturing hub potential and its steady digital economic growth may be hampered if businesses cannot build their cyber defences against sophisticated attacks that utilise old techniques and tactics. Preventing local attacks requires both a security solution capable of treating infected subjects and a combination of a firewall, anti-rootkit functionality, and control over removable devices.

Adrian believes that through robust security scan systems, organisations can halt malware spread via files or removable media. An extremely viable option to consider would be Kaspersky's Endpoint Security for Businesses, which allows companies to comb removable drives connected to computers for malware.

Moreover, Kaspersky has also developed the Kaspersky Unified Monitoring and Analysis Platform (KUMA), a comprehensive software solution containing a set of functions for event monitoring and management. The platform operates as a log management system and a full-fledged SIEM system.

The surge in local cyber threats targeting businesses in Southeast Asia during 2023 underscores the pressing need for robust cybersecurity measures across the region. With Kaspersky's business solutions successfully thwarting millions of local infections, the data highlights the persistent and evolving nature of cyber threats facing organisations.

As Southeast Asia continues to emerge as a global manufacturing hub and digital economy powerhouse, the ability of businesses to defend against sophisticated attacks becomes paramount. By adopting comprehensive security solutions like Kaspersky's Endpoint Security for Businesses and the Kaspersky Unified Monitoring and Analysis Platform (KUMA), organisations can enhance their cyber defences and safeguard against potential disruptions to their operations and growth.