More needs to be done by Singapore organisations to protect themselves.
Nearly nine in 10 (89%) local firms experienced increased cyber threats during Covid-19, and 62% suffered downtime due to a cyber concern, costing some over US$100,000. Yet, 31% of them have had their technology and security budgets reduced.
The “Cybercrime in a Pandemic World: The Impact of COVID-19” study by cybersecurity firm McAfee Enterprise and FireEye also reveals that e-commerce, travel, and supply chain are at-risk industries this holiday season.
According to McAfee Enterprise COVID-19 dashboard, the global retail industry accounts for 5.2% of the total detected cyberthreats. Such threats include compromised payment credentials and cloud storage, as well as other forms of retail fraud and theft. With the year-end mega sale festivals likely to cause a surge in e-commerce traffic and sales, the e-commerce sector is a prime target for cyber criminals.
Likewise, the travel industry will also see an increase in sales and bookings as the extension of Singapore’s vaccinated travel lane scheme to more countries is expected to unleash pent-up demand for travel. Cyber criminals are expected to take advantage of this. They will follow the trends of limited flight options due to labour shortages, supply chain issues, new travel bans and vaccination requirements – profiting from vulnerabilities as much as they can.
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Meanwhile, the loss of manufacturing and logistics capacity and employee-power – paired with increasing demand for goods – has created the perfect attack vector for cybercriminals: a potentially weak and vulnerable infrastructure to break through.
The study therefore advises supply chain managers to identify risks, understand the potential downstream effects of a security breach or cyberattack, and prepare response plans so that they can act quickly in the event of an incident.
“It is imperative that all business of scale evaluate and prioritise security technology to keep them protected, especially during peak seasons like the holidays,” says Bryan Palma, CEO of the newly combined company McAfee Enterprise and FireEye.
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“Traditional approaches are no longer enough – 94% want their organisation to improve its overall cyber readiness – and businesses need an integrated security architecture and an always on approach to prevent, protect and react to the [most aggressive and innovative] threats of today,” he adds.
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