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Sakorn Sukkasemsakorn/Getty Images I get this question a lot: Should I use a password manager? The answer is simple… yes. But no matter how often I give that advice, many ignore it and continue using their browser’s built-in password manager. I get that, as using the browser password manager is convenient and doesn’t require that […] More
Believing they will not encounter cybersecurity incidents, small and midsize businesses (SMBs) do not see a need for cyber insurance. Among 39% of SMBs in Singapore that are not considering or remain undecided about getting protection against cyber risks, half say it is because they are unlikely to experience cybersecurity or cybercrime issues. Another 54% say they do not store sensitive or personal data online and, hence, do not see a need for cyber insurance. These findings were from a study commissioned by insurer QBE Insurance Group in Singapore and conducted by Creative Way Consultants, which polled 416 decision-makers from local SMBs. The annual survey was carried out last quarter. Amid the apparent lack of enthusiasm for cyber insurance, though, 97% said they were aware of potential cyber risks to their business. Some 21% expressed concerns about data protection and security, with 38% admitting to being affected by cyber incidents last year, up from 26% in 2021. About 9% of respondents said they operated without any process or insurance against cyber risks, the study found. Digital transformation, though, remained of great interest, with 66% of SMBs embarking on digitalisation efforts over the past year. Another 34% said they would continue to invest in digital technologies to reach more customers, while 32% would do so to grow their business and 32% would digitalise for higher productivity. With their smaller pockets, it should come as no surprise that 29% of SMBs cited high cost of investment as a barrier in their digitalisation efforts. Some 27% pointed to a lack of financing, while 24% pointed to a lack of digital skills as a barrier. A further 23% saw potential business disruptions as a barrier, while 21% highlighted complexities in digital technologies. Another 21% saw the need to ensure data protection and security as a barrier to digital transformation. SMBs are hot targets of cybercrimes in Singapore, where these businesses account for the bulk of victims impacted by ransomware attacks. In particular, SMBs from sectors such as manufacturing and IT accounted for the bulk of reported ransomware cases in 2021. According to a study last year by Coleman Parkes, Singapore enterprises had to deal with 54 cybersecurity incidents on average each day, with 39% managing 50 to 200 such incidents a day. Some 62% said they were struggling to keep up with the evolving threat landscape. A report from Trend Micro last week estimated that Asia-Pacific experienced the most ransomware attacks last year, with 38.06% of such attacks targeted at the region. Some 18.9% of ransomware victims in Asia-Pacific chose to pay up, compared to the global average of 10% and 11.1% in Europe, which had the lowest ransomware payment rate. Of 14 billion threats it blocked in Asia last year, Trend Micro said more than 1 billion were in Singapore alone. Mobile security issues ranked the highest in Asia. RELATED COVERAGE More
ZDNET A while ago I wrote a piece on the best way to ensure your privacy with a web browser. A part of that advice was to use the Tor browser. In simplest terms, you cannot get more privacy and security from a web browser than when using Tor. Also: The best browsers for privacy […] More
Getty Images/Tim Robberts As an avid tech user, I’m normally juggling multiple iPhones and several Android smartphones simultaneously. Despite managing so many devices, I find them highly reliable. The stability of PCs, laptops, smartphones, and tablets today is significantly better than it was a decade ago. In fact, I can’t recall the last time one […] More
Despite the number of high profile data breaches in recent years, Singapore employees apparently are scratching their heads over what it means to have a security culture. Just one third of IT decision makers in the Asian nation understood what constituted having a “security culture”, while 53% of employees admitted to never coming across the term, according to research commissioned by security training provider KnowBe4. Conducted by YouGov over a fortnight last December, the online survey polled 1,009 office workers and 214 IT decision makers in Singapore. Some 15% of IT decision makers also had never heard of security culture. Amongst 85% of those who recognised it, 73% knew what it actually meant.And amongst the senior IT executives who understood what it meant, 6% did not believe their organisation needed a security culture. Another 14% said their organisation had such practices in place, but did not know how to successfully attain a security culture.Asked to define what it meant, 79% of IT decision makers who knew the term pointed to an awareness of security issues, while 71% described it as recognition that security was a shared responsibility across the organisation. Another 57% pointed to compliance with security polices and 47% described as having security embedded into the corporate culture. Amongst employees, 30% noted that their organisation had not communicated about security culture and 53% had never heard of the term. Some 30% said their company had discussed security culture, though, a lower 23% said they were clear about what it meant and their role.Another 23% of employees expressed reluctance in approaching their IT team with security-related questions, with 17% describing it as a hassle to do so. KnowBe5’s Asia-Pacific security awareness advocate Jacqueline Jayne said: “How employees perceive their role is a critical factor in sustaining or endangering the security of the organisation… What they learn and how they incorporate into everyday behaviours and attitudes is completely transferable into their personal lives and will protect their own data.””The phrase ‘security culture’ is beginning to find its way into the lexicon of IT leaders, but there is a problem–IT decision makers have vastly different definitions of security culture, which makes it almost impossible to measure and work towards,” Jayne said. Citing her company’s definition of security culture as “ideas, customs, and social behaviours that influence an organisation’s security”, she added that having a standard definition better enabled discussions around it. “We all know that if you do not measure something, that something does not exist.”The findings come amidst calls from the Singapore government for its citizens to take responsibility for their own cyber hygiene, so they can better safeguard their devices and not end up putting entire systems at risk. The government in October set up a task force to develop policies and capabilities to combat ransomware attacks, a growing concern for local businesses, and laid out its cyber defence strategy to help individuals arm up on cyber awareness.Singapore saw a 25.2% climb in scams and cybercrimes last year, hitting 33,669 in reported cases, up from 26,886 in 2021. Scams accounted for the bulk, cheating victims of SG$660.7 million ($501.9 million), a 4.5% increase from SG$632 million in 2021. Phishing, e-commerce, and investment scams were amongst the top five most common tactics used against victims, making up 82.5% of the top 10 types of scams last year. Phishing cases topped the list, with 7,097 reported cases in 2022, up 41.3% from 2021. RELATED COVERAGE More
Getty Images/Westend61 More than half of consumers have had to reset their password at least once a month because they struggle to remember it, with just 6% describing this form of authentication as safe. Also: The best password managers for easily maintaining all your logins Instead, 53% believed fingerprint scans were more secure than passwords, while […] More
June Wan/ZDNET While ChatGPT’s ability to generate human-like answers has been widely celebrated, it also is posing the biggest risk to businesses. Also: How does ChatGPT work? The artificial intelligence (AI) tool already is being used to enhance phishing attacks, said Jonathan Jackson, BlackBerry’s Asia-Pacific director of engineering. Pointing to activities spotted in underground forums, […] More
PeopleImages/Getty Images Are you suffering from slow internet speeds at home? Also: How to convert your home’s old TV cable into powerful Ethernet lines Connectivity drops, bottlenecks, lagged content streaming and downloads, and slow speeds are all common problems with home internet services — and it may not be the fault of your internet service provider […] More
