Pinoys 3rd most exposed to USB hack attacks in SEA in 2023 — study

A global cybersecurity company reminded Filipinos to be cautious when plugging USBs into their computers.

File photo: UltraGear's ports

Threats caused by removable media

PhilStar cited a study by Kaspersky that said 36.8 percent of users in the Philippines were attacked by local threats in 2023. These came from unscanned devices that were plugged into computers like USBs, CDs, and DVDs.

Worms and file viruses were mostly the culprits.

This placed the country third in Southeast Asia with the most number of users victimized by attackers, the cybersecurity expert said.

The Kaspersky Security Network reported that Manila was behind Vietnam with 53.3 percent and Indonesia with 41.1 percent.

The Philippines was 76th globally in Kaspersky's KSN report last year. This was from 72nd in 2022 and 70th in 2021.

Users attacked by local threats ranged from 42 percent to 51 percent since 2019.

Kaspersky General Manager for Southeast Asia Siang Tiong Yeo reminded that while removable media are handy, data security should still be a priority.

We need to understand that cyber attacks don't come solely from the internet. Attackers are finding ways to get to your devices, like with the use of these seemingly plain removable media, which we could prevent with proper USB hygiene, he emphasized.

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Via: PhilStar