Mobile malware attacks in Singapore drops 15.9% in 2021

But, hackers have become more sophisticated, Kaspersky warned. 

Mobile malware attacks in Singapore have declined by 15.9% to 7,385 in 2021, reflecting the global downward trend, Kaspersky found. 

The global cybersecurity company reported that the number of mobile malware attacks have gradually slipped to a low of 2.23 million in December 2021 from a peak of 6.49 million in October 2020. 

Altogether, in Southeast Asia, primarily Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, and Singapore, mobile malware attacks decreased by 1.1% to 598,588 from 605,192 in 2020. 

“The future is definitely mobile here in Southeast Asia. At the surface, it may seem that cybercriminals are becoming less active because of the decreased mobile malware attacks. But it is a global trend and it does not necessarily mean we are safer,” Yeo Siang Tiong, General Manager for Southeast Asia at Kaspersky, said. 

“Our devices which usually remain vulnerable from simple malware attacks. There is a gap between awareness and action here in Southeast Asia so I urge digital payment providers and regulators to help us in encouraging users to protect their mobile devices too.”

Moreover, Kaspersky reported that the top mobile malware detected in Singapore last year are the Trojan-Downloader, Trojan, Trojan-Dropper, Trojan-SMS, and Backdoor.

In a separate report, Cybereason found that organisations in Singapore pay $1m in ransom for ransomware attacks. 

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