Singapore clocks higher ransomware attacks, warns of IoT risks
Ransomware and phishing attacks continue to climb in Singapore, hitting small and midsize businesses (SMBs) and social media platforms. Cybercriminals also are expected to turn their attention to Internet of Things (IoT) devices and crypto-based transactions, leveraging the lack of security safeguards on these platforms.
Some 55,000 local-hosted phishing URLs were identified last year, up 17% from 2020, with social media companies accounting for more than half of spoofed targets. This might have been due to threat actors looking to exploit public interest in WhatsApp's announcement to update its privacy policy, said Singapore's Cyber Security Agency (CSA) on Monday, when it released its Singapore Cyber Landscape 2021 report.
Social networking sites were the most commonly spoofed sector, followed by financial services and the online and cloud services sector. WhatsApp, Facebook, Lloyds, Chase Bank, and Microsoft were the most commonly spoofed brands, according to CSA. The government agency noted that scammers also spoofed government websites in late-2021, amidst heightened interest in the Omicron subvariant outbreak here.
