Philippines 6th among countries with the most online threats in 2020

More than four out of every 10 online users in the country were almost infected with web threats last year, making the Philippines the sixth among the most-attacked countries in terms of web-borne threats in 2020, according to a report by cybersecurity firm Kaspersky.

Data released in the 2020 Kaspersky Security Network (KSN) report showed that its solutions installed in Filipino computers detected 44,410,695 different internet-borne threats, with 42.2% almost infected.

In 2019, the country was ranked fourth with 27,899,906 web threats and  44.4% near infections.

The countries with the highest percentage of users attacked by web-borne threats in 2020 were Nepal (49.3%), Algeria (46.9%), Mongolia (44.5%), Somalia (44.0%), and Belarus (43.9%).

Countries that followed the Philippines in the ranking were Malaysia (42.1%), Brunei Darussalam (42.0%), Rwanda (42.0%), and Kenya (41.1%).

"One thing that all of us would remember very well about 2020 other than COVID-19 was the shift of major tasks online --- mostly within the confines of our homes," Yeo Siang Tiong, general manager for Southeast Asia at Kaspersky, said in an emailed statement.

"It is now a common scenario to see working parents juggle work and assisting kids with their online classes. The stress of finding balance has understandably affected each of us emotionally and psychologically, which created the best scenario for cybercriminals to exploit the situation," he added.

Yeo also warned due to the pandemic, remote work, online classes, digitalization across all sectors would likely continue through 2021.

"It is high time for enterprises of all shapes and sizes to understand that online threats against individuals should now be considered as risks against companies. We need to remember that cybercriminals never sleep. Hence, our security solutions should be automated, intelligence-based, and proactive," said Yeo. — DVM, GMA News