Singapore banks extremely vulnerable to sneaky Trojan malware, says report

Over 750,000 users are affected each year.

Singapore ranks as the top country globally when it comes to attacks by banking Trojans, according to a report by Kaspersky Lab.

In the second quarter of 2015, Kaspersky said that it had detected attempts to launch malware capable of stealing money via online banking on the computers of 755,642 users. Meanwhile, 496 Kaspersky Lab users in the city-state had sustained such attacks.

Singapore is one of the Southeast Asian countries with the highest digital banking penetration rate, pegged at 94%.
Online banking in Singapore was also the second most utilised service platform after ATMs, more than conventional branch visits and telephone banking, as a study conducted by Bain & Company found.

“Cybercriminals are always looking for ways to access vital information that can be monetised, especially when it comes to online banking. As the ease of banking becomes more convenient, it is vital that individuals follow best security practices when on the Internet, recognising that they represent a portal or doorway for numerous malicious agents to get into bigger networks and systems, to wreak havoc and cause significant damage for the business they are part of," said Vitaly Kamluk, Principal Security Researcher, Global Research & Analysis Team, Kaspersky Lab.