A report scooped by Inquirer.net reveals that Philippines ranks 4th in SE Asia as source of internet security threats in the area. Also, it ranks 10th in the Asia Pacific and Japan (APJ) Region. The news portal continues, by saying that Symantec's Internet Security Threat Report Volume 15 puts Philippines behind Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia, where zombies, bots and other malicious programs come from. In that same report, it was exposed that Philippines ranks 6th as origin of Web-based attacks.
The country also has a significant number of bot-infected computers. Symantec said bots were “covertly installed” on a computer that allowed hackers to remotely control one’s computer to commit cybercrimes like identity theft and data breaches.
The country is also one of the hosts of phishing URLs in APJ. In fact, Symantec said the country ranked second for phishing in Southeast Asia.
Phishing attempts to acquire someone’s information like passwords, usernames, and other information such as those found on credit cards. Symantec said that locally, the target of phishing was the financial sector, with 92 percent of its URLs being “spoofed” or copied.
How does the government address this concern? Last year, a news site reported that websites of Philippine commissions and agencies have been attacked and infiltrated by international cyber criminals. Moreover, leakage and theft of identities and accounts have been realized by nations across the globe. Will this be a threat to our national security? How can normal citizens help in fighting these unwanted events?
You may view the original article here.
