SINGAPORE — If your company has suffered a data breach in the past year, it is far from being alone. A recent report by a United States-based cyber-security firm showed that as many as 96 per cent of organisations in Singapore have had at least one breach in the past 12 months due to external cyber attacks.

Carbon Black’s second edition of the Singapore Threat Report, released on Tuesday (Oct 1), also showed that close to half of the companies affected by data breaches incurred financial losses, while around eight in 10 saw their reputation taking a hit.

The report was based on a survey of more than 250 chief information officers, chief technology officers and chief information security officers (CIOs, CTOs and CISOs) working across a range of sectors here.

They are from the financial, healthcare, government, retail, manufacturing, food and beverage (F&B), utilities, professional services, and media and entertainment sectors.

Similar surveys were also done in seven other countries including Britain, Germany and Japan.

THE KEY FINDINGS

• Of the organisations surveyed, 96 per cent said that they had suffered one or more breaches in the past 12 months due to external cyber attacks. This percentage has not changed since the previous survey results were released in January this year.

• Of those that had experienced a cyber attack, 48 per cent said that there was “negative financial impact” while 83 per cent reported damage to their reputation.

• Furthermore, 93 per cent of these organisations reported an increase in cyber attacks in the past year, marginally more than 92 per cent of the respondents in the previous survey. Predominantly, these were government organisations and authorities, as well as F&B businesses.

• In terms of the sophistication of the attacks, just over nine in 10 of respondents said that the threats they were experiencing had grown in complexity. This was most prevalent in the financial services sector, with 93 per cent of the firms reporting that cyber attacks have become more sophisticated.

CHALLENGES AND CONCERNS

A key challenge reported by businesses is that while they would like bigger teams to combat cyber attacks, 67 per cent of them said that recruiting and training cyber-security personnel has become more difficult in the last 12 months.

Nearly half (44 per cent) of financial services companies reported that recruitment challenges have become a lot more severe, while almost two-thirds of government organisations and local authorities reported a little more difficulty in recruiting.

Carbon Black’s report added that 98 per cent of CIOs and CISOs surveyed are concerned about how digital transformation projects and the roll-out of the 5G network would affect cyber security.

Some were concerned that these changes would see more effective and destructive methods of cyber crime happening (55 per cent), while others (54 per cent) thought that it would give more opportunities for cyber criminals to attack their organisations. 

THE MOST COMMON FORMS OF ATTACKS

The top three types of cyber attacks encountered by organisations in the past 12 months were:

1. Ransomware (15 per cent). Ransomware, used commonly by hackers to steal data, remained the most frequently used technique. In the previous survey, 28 per cent of the attacks were from ransomware. Hackers generally cut off access to the IT system and steal data until a ransom is paid before the attacker will unlock access.

Carbon Black said that ransomware has been reported as the primary cause of successful breaches in 29 per cent of Singapore organisations, compared with 26 per cent in its January report.

The companies most affected by ransomware attacks were those in travel and transport (75 per cent) as well as financial services (49 per cent).

2. Fileless attacks (13 per cent). This is a malicious attack that does not require the hacker to install a software in the user’s device. Instead, it makes use of applications that are already installed which are thought to be safe.  

3. Malware (13 per cent). This form of attack requires the installation of malicious software, which can be done through physical USB drives, computer viruses, worms, Trojan horses or spyware.

REASONS FOR CYBER ATTACKS

Carbon Black’s security strategist, Mr Tristan Morris, told TODAY that geopolitical tensions and money are two reasons why Singapore businesses are witnessing an increase in cyber-attack volumes and sophistication.

“Geopolitical tension continue to play out in cyber space with nation states like Russia, China, North Korea and Iran looking to exert their influence over the world,” Mr Morris said.

Cyber-crime syndicates and run-of-the-mill hackers are also getting their hands on advanced hacking tools in an effort to steal data and other intellectual property for sale on the dark web.

“Attackers will always follow the money,” Mr Morris added.

When it comes to the levels of sophistication, he said that attackers are “evolving” alongside security technology in an effort to remain undetected.

Mr Tom Kellermann, Carbon Black’s cyber-security officer, offered another reason, saying that a large number of banks from around the world are located in Singapore and, globally, the finance industry continues to be a main target for attacks.

INVESTMENT IN CYBER DEFENCE

The report stated that 99 per cent of the respondents plan to increase the cyber-defence budget for their respective companies in the coming year. This is a slight increase of 2 per cent since the January survey.

Just under half of the respondents (40 per cent) said that they will increase spending in this area by 21 to 30 per cent.

Only 2 per cent of the respondents said that they plan to increase budgets by more than 50 per cent.

THREAT HUNTING AS A DEFENCE

Carbon Black said that threat hunting, a technique where cyber-security professionals actively seek out threats, has proved to be an effective method for companies in Singapore to uncover malicious cyber-attack activity.

During the survey, 95 per cent of the respondents said that it had strengthened their defences to some degree, with 40.5 per cent reporting a “significant protective effect”.

The report also noted that 91 per cent of the respondents found evidence of malicious activity by threat hunting, while 49 per cent said that they found “significant evidence”.

The top three sectors that saw evidence of malicious cyber-attack activity were travel and transport (75 per cent), F&B (73 per cent) and professional services (61 per cent).